Ruby Rose, the Girl Who Ran
by Lord Revan Flame
Summary: (Rewrite) Ruby Rose thought she lived the perfect life among friends at Beacon Academy, but when the truth is revealed, when her "friends" attempt to murder her. That is when she learns the cold truth of the world. Everyone is capable of doing good and evil. Taken in, healed, and mentored under a veteran hunter, she aims to return to Beacon, stronger and better. (RubyxJaune)
1. Betrayal by Friends

**Welcome back everyone!**

**So this is the rewrite**

**I'm sorry to tell you that the old story is over**

**This is the new one**

**The reason I rewrote the story was because I got a lot of doubt in my head**

**A major reason is the release of Dravyn LeCrux's story, The Red Queen**

**Not that I despise it**

**I'm jealous because that's the kind of drama I wanted in my story**

**So I'm telling you right now, go over there and read that story**

**It is most definitely better than what I've written**

**Also read his The Grimm's Rose story, it is spectacular**

**Anyways, I wanted more drama because I like more drama**

**My original story lacked that drama so I'm back tracking to rewrite and rebuild**

**I own nothing here besides the plot and my own characters**

**Everything else belongs to Roosterteeth and Monty Oum**

**Oh and I almost forgot**

**This was released on July 16th**

**My Birthday!  
**

**Now onto my newest masterpiece!**

* * *

Ruby POV

_How did I end up like this?_

Over and over that question repeated itself in my head as I thought. My body was on fire, I couldn't feel much of anything. All those attacks made me bleed so much blood and now I can barely move. My hand slowly and painfully moved up to touch a hole in my abdomen.

I winced in pain and my hand fell back down to my side as I lost my strength once more. I tried to remember how this happened, but I felt immediate regret as the memories flooded my mind, overwhelming me to the point that I thought I was reliving all of the betrayal again.

* * *

Third Person POV

2 Days Ago

"Yang!" Ruby Rose called as her blonde sister held the pancake syrup out of my grasp.

"You gotta work for it Ruby," Yang Xiao Long playfully stated, holding it out of her little sister's reach.

The two had been in that state for some time now, Yang standing up and leaning a bit to the side while Ruby was trying to climb her to get to the sweet, sweet syrup. Weiss Schnee rolled her eyes and huffed in annoyance as she put her chin in her palm, bored since she had already eaten. Blake Belladona observed the two sisters that struggled against each other while eating her own pancakes slowly.

Next to the all female team known as Team RWBY there sat Team JNPR whose leader, Jaune Arc watched with a curious stare at the siblings. Pyrrha Nikos just ate her food, watching a bit as well, but unknown to them she would glance at Jaune every now and then, but when ever he would seem to notice her stares and look at her she would quickly avert her gaze and blush. Lie Ren had a bored expression set on his face as he ate his food, his partner in crime, Nora Valkyrie simultaneously spoke like at the speed of a bullet and ate her pancakes while retaining her smile the entire time.

Both teams had become friends with each other only days after they were assigned their members seeing as both leaders had become best-friends after they stepped off the airships when they arrived at Beacon. They're rival team however, Team CRDL just glared at them, but more specifically the 15-year-old leader.

Being the young girl she was, Ruby was near oblivious to the jealousy and hatred that ran through the first year students at Beacon, all of the negative emotions aimed at her. Every freshman had earned their place there except for Jaune of course, but only Cardin Winchester and Pyrrha new of his fake documents. While the hunters and huntresses in training had learned in classrooms and fought simulated Grimm creatures, little Ruby Rose had defeated a lowly criminal nobody, at least in their eyes and killed a single Nevermore on her trial run out of pure luck, as they believed.

When she walked the halls of Beacon, she was oblivious to the glares that were shot at her back and the small whispers that stated the rest of the student body's despising nature towards her. The entirety of Beacon was not against her however, there was a small few who looked up to the young huntress in training, awe inspired by her acts of bravery and selflessness.

The day soon came when Ozpin was to announce the teams that would participate in the Vytal Tournament. The students of Beacon, all of them ranging from freshman to soon to be graduates stood in the auditorium in anticipation.

With a cough to clear his throat, he readjusted his glasses and began reading off team names. Cheering could be heard from the crowd as three teams from every year were chosen. Finally, he came to the first year students, all of which waited for their names to be called.

"For the first year student teams I give to you, Team CRDL!" Ozpin announced and the team of bullies cheered. While nobody had a fondness of them, they all knew of CRDL's strength and effectivness in battle. Soon after the cheering was done and the all male team had walked onto the stage with the rest of the teams, the headmaster spoke once more.

"For the second first year team we have Team JNPR!" he stated with a smile. This slowly registered in Jaune's mind as he gaped in shock while his team cheered. The rest of the student body had mixed reactions to this, seeing as Jaune wasn't the best student there, arguebly the worst. However, Pyrrha was an excellent student and both Ren and Nora were powerful fighters along with their leader's little show of power in saving Cardin and slaying an Ursa Major.

The first year team made their way through the crowd from the back to the stage and when they arrived they were greeted by the rest of the teams save for Team CRDL who just sneered. The rest of the academy knew of the rivalry between the two teams and always kept a cautious eye on the two.

"And finally, last, but not least, Team RWBY!" Ozpin announced with a joyful smile, his eyes locking onto the all female team in the back. Everyone's mouths dropped at that, shock running through their mind as the team made their way through the crowd. "Ms. Rose?"

Ruby snapped out of her own shock and nervously made her way through the crowd to catch up to her team. People were glaring now, but Ozpin was oblivious to this as he began giving off his speech of honor and expectations. They all now truly despised her. In their minds ran thousands of thoughts of inacting revenge on this child who dared to disgrace the name of hunters and huntresses, or at least they thought so.

Days passed after that, the Vytal Tournament nearing its deadline in two weeks, but this was plenty of time for the students to find a way to bring down Ruby Rose. They would actively glare or sneer at her now, no longer hiding it. They throw crumpled up balls of paper and tiny vials filled with explosive dust that had enough firepower as a small firecracker.

The young huntress in training finally noticed after the first glare she received when she left the auditorium after Ozpin's speech. The days passed and the bullying increased, but thankfully it was not allowed to continue as Yang had become more defensive. This was also a backfire on Ruby's part however as she did like to have some brutal sister protection, but she also counted boys having an attraction to her.

She was to afraid to reveal her feelings to her crush, Vomit Boy otherwise known as Jaune Arc who himself had a crush back. Being the awkward teenagers they were, they were completely oblivious to each other, but others could see where their relationship was going.

Jaune, however, made a mistake one day. He came to Pyrrha for advice, reffering to Ruby as a redheaded friend who the amazonian warrior mistook for herself seeing as she had, had a crush on her leader for some time now. But as Jaune ran from the room after hearing Pyrrha's advice, he made the mistake of stating Ruby's name. From that moment forward the P in JNPR was forever in conflict with Ruby Rose for Jaune Arc's affection.

Then one day, it happened. Ozpin sent the first year students on a combined mission to a nearby town close to the academy and Vale that had been having issues with Grimm. He called it a training exercise, they called it their first mission. The teams had agreed on scouring the forest for the Grimm and so they went in groups of two teams in order to find them.

They searched for several hours, but they found nothing besides the remains of dead animals most likely feasted upon by the Grimm. Taking a quick break they settled down in a large clearing, both Team RWBY and JNPR resting down on the grass or in the tree branches. As Ruby and Jaune awkwardly spoke to each other theirs teams rested their bodies and minds.

Suddenly, however, a rather large pack of Beowolves rushed through the brush and attacked. Both teams were quick to act, grabbing their weapons and fighting back the Grimm. They were a flurry, Yang bashing Beowolves into the ground or trees with Ember Celica, Blake slashing and shooting the Grimm with Gambol Shroud, Weiss using Myrtenaster to create spikes of ice to impale the creatures or simply stab or cut them, and Ruby a flurry of death as she spun her scythe around and severed limbs or cut Grimm in half

JNPR was on par with the other team, Jaune using his new skills that Pyrrha had taught him to fight off the creatures of Grimm with his family herlooms also known as Crocea Mors, Pyrrha stabbing, slashing, and blocking with Milo and Akouo, Ren sped around, firing Stormflower at the monsters, and Nora was bashing them around with Magnhild.

The battle was soon over, but Ruby had been to into the feeling of excitement and exhiliration to see Pyrrha knock out Yang, Jaune, Nora, Ren, and Blake, taking them down one at a time. When the battle was finished, Ruby turned to see the four down and quickly rushed to them.

"We need to help the-"

The young girl was cut off as a trail of ice spikes shot at her like a snake jumping at its prey with jaws opened wide.

"Weiss!" Ruby gasped in shock when she saw the heiress with her weapon raised up and body in a fighting stance. "What are you doing!?"

The white haired huntress in training just glared at her and Ruby stared in shock until a spear shot at her. She dodged, having sensed the attack with her aura. Pyrrha slowly walked over and plucked the gold and crimson spear from a tree, then faced the leader of RWBY with the same glare as Weiss.

"What are you guys doing?" she nervously asked, visibly shaking from what was happening. "Yang and everyone need help."

"No they don't Ruby," Pyrrha stated as she twirled her spear around in her hand, playing with it in a mocking gesture. "I used a special attack on them I learned as a child in my village. They'll be unconscious for some time, but they will be fine."

"You knocked them out?" Ruby questioned, her eyes widening in shock. Thoughts ran through her mind such as 'Why?' or 'What are they thinking?'

"Of course we did you dunce!" Weiss spat with hate. "This is why you were never a real leader, always a child, never listening, never learning."

"I'm not a child!" Ruby snapped back, but was shot down by the combined glares of both her 'friends'.

"Exactly what one would say," Pyrrha stated as with a hard glare. "Don't you remember what Oobleck said, 'History is important. If you can't learn from it, you're destined to repeat it.' and we all know you never learn."

"We?" Ruby asked, tilting her head in confusion. However, she was answered as the brush twitched and shook as Team CRDL stepped out. Her eyes widened in shock that they would be working together, then more freshmen teams came out, almost all of them holding weapons up at her. "Why?"

"Why? Why!" Weiss screamed in a shrill voice with hate in it. "Beacon doesn't need a child as a leader to embarass it. We earned all our places here, all of us. I trained with the best of the best. Pyrrha was born into a warrior village. Even Cardin was taught how to fight. You, all you did was beat Torchwick once, hell you didn't even beat him, Ms. Goodwitch had to save you!"

"But the Nevermore," Ruby tried to argue, but was shot down once more.

"Was pure luck," Pyrrha stated, dancing with Milo, now in its Xiphos form. She took a stance with the short sword and so did all the other freshmen.

Ruby stepped back in fear, seeing all the glares of jealousy and hate. She readied Crescent Rose just as they came at her, slashing and slicing, blasting and firing, stabbing and bashing.

A line of ice spikes came at her, but she dodged and blocked Pyrrha's strike with her Precious. She swung and caught Cardin's mace, making it fly out of his hand and into some freshman's head. She jumped back a couple feet with the use of her semblance and collapsed Crescent Rose into its rifle form, then began firing.

The shots were aimed at the ground at their feet to make the running students trip and fall over, hopefully knocking them out from the impact or the charging horde of jealous hunters and huntresses in training. As they neared her, Ruby jumped up into a tree and then propelled off of it onto the otherside of the clearing.

It seemed like hours passed as the students continued their attack and with passing of time came the passing of much of Ruby's aura. Being linked to her emotions, the emotion of betrayal super charged her speed, giving her an advantage over her assaulters, but they were great in number and slowly they chipped away at her strength.

She breathed heavily, holding a rather large and bloody wound on her right arm as she stood there in front of her so called 'friends'. She took a deep breath and with what pride she had left, swung her scythe around to have the blade impale itself into the ground.

As they charged at her she took a quick minute to fire another barrage, knocking down several students. However, as time passed they got back up and fought her once more. She wished this was what it could be like for her friends, but Pyrrha had said it herself, they would be down till this was over and they were back at Beacon.

Suddenly, a blade cut her left arm, drawing more blood and she backed up, slamming herself against her assaulter making him or her stumbled back and land on their back. She attempted to retreat, but was met with a fist in her face. She fell down and was kicked in the ribs causing her to yelp loudly in pain.

Ruby tried to crawl away, but a foot connected with her face. She saw Cardin's mace above her so she grabbed Crescent Rose and swung up. The blade flashed silver in the sunlight that shone in the clearing as it made an arc and connected with the bully's mace. However, the hard steel blade connected with the head of the mace.

The sheer force shattered it and shards of her Precious fell shot all around her. A single, very shard pierced her leg, slicing through flesh and making blood flow out of her. She felt it scrape her thigh bone, maybe even bite into it, but as far as she was concerned, she had been hit with her own weapon's blade.

She cried out in pain, screaming and crying as she held her thigh. The hunters and huntresses in training moved back a bit, shocked at what had happened. They knew what they wanted, but they did not invision it like this. She crawled a bit to a rock at the edge of the clearing, leaning against it for support as she tried to stop the bleeding.

"Stop," she cried out as they surrounded her once more. "Please. I'm injured see." They kept glaring at her, all of them. "You made your point, just leave me alone!"

"You don't get it you insolent dolt!" Weiss screeched with hate. "We know you'll just come crawling back to Beacon and Prof. Ozpin, being the stubborn man who plays favorites will just let you back in, maybe even move you up another year."

The 15-year-old cringed at her harsh words, still holding her leg as it bled.

"We don't want you beaten Ruby, we want you gone," Pyrrha stated and the cold, harsh truth finally hit Ruby right before the sword did.

Before Ruby could even realize what was happening, Pyrrha's sword slashed he across the shoulder. She cried out as she fell over onto her stomach. Attempting to crawl away, she used some bushes and trees for cover, but they did little to protect her from the bullets and arrows.

A hail of dust shots and bullets rained down on her, making dirt and rock rain around her, brush started to catch fire from the constant attack. Bullets and arrows hit her, embedding themselves into her arms and back making her cry out in pain. Those who fired could barely see where she was, but their barrage of long range attacks would hit her. She felt pain erupt from her abdomen and looked back a bit to see gold and red, Pyrrha's spear, Milo impaled in her.

The girl in red barely lasted a minute before she finally gave in, falling down and not getting up. They all stopped, staring at the body of the girl they had just murdered.

"Ruby?" Weiss asked, her voice almost holding regret. Almost

"We did it, we actually-" Pyrrha choked back the last of the sentence not wanting to hear those words as she pulled the spear from her body.

They all knew that it was wrong to do this, they were being trained to protect humanity, not destroy it, but right now they had broken the one sacred rule of being a hunter or huntress

"We all know the story right?" Weiss asked and everyone nodded.

"Yeah, yeah. We fought the Grimm horde, but Ruby got cut down and dragged off by one."

"And all we found was blood and rose petals," Another student finished.

"Plus Yang, Blake, Jaune, Nora, and Ren were knocked out while we were left fighting," Pyrrha finished with an emotionless look on her face.

"Good, now let's get Yang and the others away from here before they get up," Weiss ordered and they gathered their unconscious classmates to take them back to Beacon.

As they left, they did not notice the quiet sobs of the wilting rose. Slowly and painfully she curled up into a ball and hugged herself, not able to feel much pain anymore as her soul died. Her aura was nearly gone, leaving her dying.

"This isn't how it's suppose to go," she whispered as she sobbed. "I'm suppose to save people and make friends, not die because everyone hates me."

Slowly, her vision faded into darkness. Her bullet filled arms that held her legs to her chest gave and she became sprawled on the ground. As the last of her aura began to fade, she saw a shadow over her, large and dark almost like a... a...

Her thought process failed as she finally shut down.

* * *

Ruby POV

Present

Then I remembered waking up here, in this cave. My body was in pain, in oh so much pain. I should be dead, well I thought I was until I felt all the pain.

_You don't feel pain when your dead right?_

That was my first thought, then I thought I was in hell because bad things happen to you there. Then I wondered if I was in hell, did everything they all say to me true?

I lay there, motionless, save for my chest rising up and down, painfully giving me air. I was bleeding so much, but all the blood should be gone by now.

That's when I saw it, a figure walking towards me. It bent down and I felt the pain ease as a red glow came from the figure's hands. I blinked, this time there was no pain. A wet cloth dabbed my face and when it pulled away I saw a lot of blood on it. I managed to move my eyes and saw porcelain skin with short platinum blonde hair.

I winced as I felt bullets and arrows being pulled out of me and stitches being used to close up wounds. The sound of healing dust being used was like listening to soothing music as my body healed, leaving little scars. As the hours passed I drifted back into sleep, soon to wake to something I could never expect.

* * *

Third Person POV

"W-what?" Ozpin shakily asked, stuttering as Team RWBY, JNPR, and CRDL gave him the mission report.

All first year students took a single mission together, every single one of them. It was tradition. He had done it with his friends when he was a first year and never had there been a casualty, but now... now the girl he admired, the daughter of his friend was gone.

"We lost... we lost her, sir. Ruby's gone," Weiss lied, giving fake tears from years of practice with her father, trying to gain his attention at a young age. "We did, however, recover Crescent Rose."

Yang had wanted to go back for her after she had awoken on the airship, but they had persuaded her to give up, telling her she was already gone. After that she, surprisingly, did not kill anyone or break anything. She just fell to her knees and wept. Blake and Jaune consoled her, Ren and Nora even helped, but no one could help her.

Ozpin stared at them, his mouth slightly open, but he soon turned around and set his coffee mug on the desk. Weiss held the the scythe weapon of her former leader, but the headmaster did not take it so she held onto it. He set his hands on the rim of the green tinted glass desk that had been in the possession of the many headmasters of the academy for so long. He tried to contemplate on this, but it was impossible, he tried to think it was a dream, a nightmare, but he knew it was real.

"Are you sure she's gone?" he asked, hopeful they had a clue to if she lived.

"I'm sorry headmaster, but she's-" Pyrrha couldn't finish the sentence, she was at a loss of words as Ozpin roared in anger and threw his hands on the desk, swiping everything off.

All three teams jumped back in shock as they watched the usually calm professor go ballistics, throwing everything on his desk off, even his coffee mug. His elbows slammed down on the surprisingly strong glass desk as his hands gripped his head, fingers weaving through his silver hair as he grit his teeth and held back the rage in his body.

"Sir?" Blake asked, trying to figure out if he was alright, but he just moved his head a bit.

"Leave!" he shouted and they jumped back in surprise again, but complied and left him to grieve.

He thought about it all, trying to comprehend the days events. He had lost her, the person who he had promised to protect, always watching from afar. How was he going to tell Qrow? He would try and kill him, no he'd castrate him, then kill him, but that didn't worry Ozpin in the least. As far as he was concerned, he should just run to the balcony and jump off now.

His mask continued to crack, that facade he had formed to always look professional. Little emotion ever showed on his face for he kept a calm and collective demeanor in order to sustain the effect of dominance, but now it was all coming down. The walls to his city of emotions crumbled and he let everything loose.

He had promised her he'd take care of Ruby, he had. He had chased down their friend's murderer and killed him. As the headmaster grieved over the death of his student, Glenda Goodwitch stood outside of the headmaster's office doors, listening to him.

She had known Ozpin ever since she joined Beacon, he was a four year student when she was a first and they had become fast friends as they helped each other through the academy. Glenda had always known him to be calm and collective, at least in this time. He was quite the teenage troublemaker with his team, but he had quickly locked away all those emotions and thoughts with the two deaths on his team and the third by his own hand.

Meanwhile, on the otherside of Beacon Yang sat in bed, curled up and sobbing as Blake sat at her bedside, slowly and carefully combing her fingers through the blonde's mane to calm her. Nora and Ren sat in the other room, consoling Jaune as he sat there, emotionless as he thought about his first crush, well not his first, but the first that had actually acknowledged him.

As these two teams contemplated, the rest of Beacon's first year students who had participated in the murder were out for the night, 'mourning' over the loss of one of their own. They were drinking, that was true, but they laughed and cheered as they partied, disgracing the death of Ruby Rose. Or at least they thought it was her death.

* * *

**To be continued...**

**So I hope you like this rewrite so far**

**I wanted to make this a bit more dramatic**

**I want to thank all of you for your support**

**I honestly did not believe my story was that good, but then in the course of a day or two my reviews raised up twice as much**

**It completely astonished me so I have to give you all credit for this**

**That is why this rewrite is being dished out with all six chapters all ready written so it is caught up to the original story**

**So Review, Favorite, and Follow**

**Sincerely,  
Lord Revan Flame**


	2. The Betrayed Meet

**Hello once more my lovely fans**

**I come to you with the second chapter right here**

**So in here we have Ruby's meeting with a man who was betrayed**

**So here you go, eat it up**

**As I've promised the story has been released with all the current chapters from the original**

**As well as some extras**

**So here you go!**

* * *

Ruby POV

Slowly, my eyes opened and I took in the dark surroundings around me. I was in a cave, just like last time. I looked around and noticed a body nearby, lots of bodies. Bloody and torn apart, mutilated and ripped open with flesh missing from parts of them.

I got sick and about threw up, but I managed to hold it. I looked around some more, trying not to look at the bodies when I noticed a clean one, completely void of blood on it save for the arms, but they didn't seem to come from any wounds.

I looked at the body and saw it was a woman in a butler outfit, really pale skin and short, faint blonde hair. That's when I realized it, poreclain skin and platinum blonde hair, this was the woman who healed me. I slapped her a couple times, but she didn't wake up.

I tried desperately to wake her up, but she stayed slumped against the cave wall, unconscious. I sighed in defeat and started thinking of how I got here. Then it struck me, Weiss, Pyrrha, Cardin, and everyone else. They all attacked me, they tried to kill me, they _despised_ me.

I started to quietly sob, but seeing as I was alone, I began sobbed out loud, my wails echoing through the cave as I let tears come out of my eyes. I wanted Yang to be here, the console me, even Vomit Boy who I helped console that one time with my Nope conversation as he had dubbed it.

That's when I heard it, a whirring sound and I looked up to see the eyes on the near bloodless body across from me open up and show glowing blue irises.

"Powering on," the body, the woman said as she got up, her mouth moving.

Her voice was sweet, but also electronic like a robot, wait... robot!

"An android," I gasped as I looked at her.

She moved her gaze down to me and stared at my small, pale form. I squirmed under her look, but after a while she looked up and started speaking.

"Blood amount at healthy percentage, bodily functions active, all objects removed from body, you are healthy," she stated, hands behind her back in a respectful manner.

"Excuse me?" I asked, confused at to what she said.

"I reported your health status. I have healed you to the highest I can go," she stated and I cocked my head as I stood up, wait, stood up?

I looked down and saw my shreaded combat skirt that revealed my pale legs. There was no scar there, no gleaming piece of my Precious' blade.

"I'm fine?" I asked and I looked up at her. "You saved me?"

"Yes," she stated and I narrowed my eyes as I looked at her.

"You're an android, right?"

"Yes."

"You healed me?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"It was my task too," she stated simply. "I am programmed to help people."

"Help people?" I asked and she nodded.

"My master programmed me to save lives and fight evil, as he has stated," she answered and I nodded in understanding

"How did you find me anyway?" I asked and she began to explain.

"I was gathering supplies in the town when I overheard your fellow hunters mourning your death, however I discovered that several of them were lying by their facial expression and increase in pulse via my scanning equipment built into my chassis," she explained, gesturing with her arms and hands. "I ventured into the forest and discovered your near dead form about to be consumed by Beowolves."

"Wait, Beowolves? Where are they now?" I asked, looking around.

"Dispatched of," she simply answered and I tilted my head a bit in confusion.

"Dead?" I asked in a more simplified term.

"Yes, dead," she said again and raised her arm.

It opened up and transformed into a long gun, an automatic rifle as I could tell.

"I was a level 1 assassination android created to seduce and kill, but I was defeated on a mission. My head was sold onto the black market where my master discovered me and created this new body for me. I am now programmed to defend human and faunas life from the creatures of Grimm."

"Um, thanks?" I cautiously thanked and she nodded. "So, how did you save me? I should be dead."

"It was fascinating when I scanned your body for life signs. You were barely breathing, had little to no blood left in you, and your pulse was slowing to a halt. However, it would seem you were born naturally to live. Your persistence to continue existing kept your life force intact, your aura continued to keep your body sustained long enough for me to heal you to the point that your body could finish the healing process."

"Wow," I gasped as I comprehended what she had just said.

"I suggest we leave now to my master's location. He will want to meet you."

"Meet me?"

"I cross referenced your name across official records. You are Ruby Rose, daughter of Summer Rose and Jian Xiao Long, younger sister of Yang Xiao Long, niece of Qrow Rose, and student of Beacon Academy."

"Wow," I said, in awe at how much info she got on me. "So, uh... take me to your leader?"

She nodded, then led me out of the cave and through the forest, passing bodies of Beowolves everywhere, each of the corpses filled with bullet holes that leaked black blood. We eventually came to the clearing where I had been attacked, blood, my blood was everywhere. That's when it hit me, where was my Precious?

"Um..." I trailed off as I realized I did not know if the robot had a name.

"Analyzation of your expression says you wish to know my declared name," she said after noticing my stare. "I am Unit N7-117 also known as Aeren."

"Well, Aeren. Do you know where my Prec- Crescent Rose is?"

"Your weapon? Unfortunately I was unable to recover it save for the single shard in your leg," she explained and held up the shard in her hand. "Your weapons' remains were taken by your teammates back to Beacon Academy, most likely to honor your death."

"They're not my teammates," I murmured as we kept walking.

Soon we were in the town and Aeren led me up a path that sooned turned led us to a manor. It was tall, made of brick, marble, and oak wood. A small brick wall surrounded the manor, an iron fence on top of it to make it tall and to let people see the manor through the bars.

She led us to the front door where she held up her hand and snapped her fingers. With a creak the oak wooden double doors swung open for us to enter.

"Cool," I gasped in awe, but she just kept walking. "How did you do that?"

"It has a built in scanning device to notice accepted life signatures and the sound of snapping fingers."

We stepped into a large foyer that was the size of a small house. Two sets of curved stairs led up and met at a second floor. Two halls were set on either side of the first floor and a third hall sat inbetween the two set of stairs.

The walls were painted a pale bluish white color and the walls were lined with paintings of Grimm fighting Hunters and Huntresses. A chandelier hung above us, lighting up the room. That's when I noticed it was getting dark outside, the light that was shining through the windows on either side of the double doors was slowly fading.

"Wow," I said with awe as we stepped in.

"What is this place?"

"Metastract Manor," Aeren answered as she turned around to look at me. "After my master moved here to hide he discovered this place and purchased it. He and I began rebuilt it and remodeled several parts, adding on more to it as well. It was owned by the Metastract family until they died off several years ago."

"That's cool," I said and she nodded in response before turning again. I started following her again as she led me down the central hall between the staircases. We walked until we came to another oak wood door.

She turned the nob and led me into a very big living room. One either sides were giant windows with drapes above them. A painting of an inside of a temple was set on the far wall above a fireplace, showing statues of armored knights holding swords upside down with both hands.

I noticed a man laying face down on a mattress, bandages wrapped around him with a metal brace looking thing on his back that held a a large metal plate that had a handle poking out from behind his right shoulder. Who sleeps on a mattress in the living room with a metal plate on their back? Aeren and I walked up to him, but I kicked a bottle of whiskey and I guess he heard it since he attacked us. He got up quickly with reflexes almost fast as me and his slammed his right arm on the ground, then his left fist as he tried to get up.

"I'll kill you!" he roared with hate and rage as he tried to get up quicker.

He swung his arm and Aeren was caught by it, sending her flying into a couch. I jumped back in suprise and landed on another bottle of whiskey making me trip as it flew from under me. He started getting up now, rising up on his knees, and then on his feet as he twisted and turned. His right arm reached behind him to grab the weapon on his back.

He finally managed to get up on his legs and twirled around after finally gripping the handle of the metal plate on his back. He pulled it out and it transformed into a weapon. He turned clockwise, his right hand holding the weapon, but I could tell he was straining to hold onto it with how heavy it was. He swung his arm up and managed to keep a firm grip on it as he pointed the barrel, or barrels at me.

It was like a heavy repeating cannon, the barrel was like a nail because it had a pitch most likely to help it move inwards into the main body for a compact form. The end of the barrel had three barrels surrounded by a metal ring that had sort of trapezoid shaped prongs on it. The main body of it was pretty intricate; It was a rectangular box with lights glowing on it and several tubes that moved from the back of it to the trigger handle that he was holding.

"I'll kill you! Stay back!" he roared again, holding it at me threateningly.

He emphasized by grabbing the forward handle with his left hand, pulling it back to make the barrel shoot forward a bit with a loud whirring noise and a powering up sound as the three barrels glowed a luminous blue that signaled he had powered it up.

I stared in shock and fear at him as I crawled backwards to get away. I looked over and saw Aeren still trying to get up, her systems probably still jumbled up or in shock as a organic person would say.

"Easy girl," he stated slowly and a bit more calmly in a raspy, low voice as I quivered under his threatening gaze, his cannon still pointed at me. "Why are you here? Who sent you!"

"I brought her here sir," Aeren stated and he looked over at her. "She is Ruby Rose."

"Rose?" he asked and looked at me with a sympathetic look, his mouth slightly ajar, but suddenly he cringed as he fell over. It was then that I noticed the blood seeping through the bandages.

"Your wounds have reopened sir," Aeren exclaimed as she undid the bandages and opened up her stomach, metal plating coming off to reveal a storage area for vials filled with dust.

She took a vial of dust and poured it into her hand. It turned into a sort of aura like state, red energy floating around in her hand as she put it to his wounds, large cuts and marks on him as the android healed him.

"Thank you Aeren," he rasped as he slowly and painfully got up off of his knees and leaned against a large chair next to him.

His cannon was on the ground now, but he didn't seem interested in it anymore. This guy, he was tall and thin wearing nothing, but boxers. He had a light tan and a somewhat muscular body. Coffee brown hair topped his head and grey eyes almost like mine, but more like steel, like the metal used in my Precious' blade.

"So you are Ruby Rose?" he asked and I nodded slowly as I stared at him, now with a new view of him. Earlier I thought he was crazy and a psychopath, but now I thought he was paranoid and scared. "I am Benedict Smiethrun." **(A/N- I'm keeping Benedict and changing Smith.)**

"Um, hi?" I nervously greeted back and he smiled sadly at me before he looked around.

"What year is it?"

"Really?" I asked and he nodded. **(A/N- Seeing as they don't have an official, year, month, date system in RWBY yet I'll just have to do this)** I explained to him the current date and he nodded.

"The last time I checked it had been one year since the incident," he explained and slowly made his way back to the mattress to lay down.

"What incident?" I asked and he looked at me with a solemn gaze. "Oh, sorry. To curious."

"It is fine, but might I ask? Why are you here? Should you not be at your home with our father?"

"Well, I should be at Beacon, but... I don't want to talk about it."

He looked at me with a look of sympathy again before slowly laying down on his back, this time without his weapon.

"It would seem we both have pasts that we do not wish to speak of," he chuckled under his breath, but loud enough for us to hear. "Still, why have you come?"

"I didn't really come, more of taken here," I said as I looked over at Aeren. "She said you would want to see me?"

"See you?" he asked and looked over at Aeren who nodded. "Yes, well I would like to see one who was saved by my robotic butler, but as for you I do not believe so."

"Why not?" I asked, curious now why I was different.

"Reasons of which I do not wish to tell," he answered in his depressed voice, looking down in what I think was shame and regret.

I stood there, awkwardly squirming as I thought of what to say next since he didn't seem like saying anything soon.

"So, um... why're you hurt?" I asked, gesturing at his bandaged wounds.

"Oh, these," he said and looked at the scar that ran across his chest.

In total, I saw ten scars, two cuts on his left fore arm, one long one going down his right upper arm. There was one big one going down his bare chest and what I think were two stab wounds in his abdomen plus one that looked like it was right next to where his heart should be. I remember spotting a long cut across his back, coming from his right shoulder and moving down near his spine. There was a deep cut across his left ankle and another cut going down and eventually across his lower leg.

"A rememberance of my betrayal," he claimed in a somber tone so he must be telling the truth, right?

"Betrayal?" I asked again, getting more curious as to what happened to this guy to make him get so paranoid he aimed a gun at me.

"I thought we weren't going to share our pasts?" he asked and with another sad smile making me blush in embarrassment.

"Well, what if I tell you a little of what happened to me and you tell me a little of what happened to you," I bargained and he stared at me with his sad gaze before nodding.

"You first," he requested and I felt my heart crack as the memories flooded again.

I felt tears start dripping and a feeling of depression leak through the cracks and fill my heart. A hand touched my cheek and wiped the tear, making me look up in shock as Mr. Smiethrun wiped my tears.

"Do not cry child," he reassuring voice that actually made me feel a bit more courage in me. "Cry only when you wish to let your emotions run free."

"Thanks, I guess," I sniffled and wiped the rest of the tears from my face before telling my tale.

I explained about how everyone was jealous of me and I didn't know it, then how I was bullied. I didn't talk about the mission or them trying to kill me though and I saw Aeren watching us. I knew she wouldn't talk about my past since she was programed to serve and would there for keep my past a secret. The whole time I tried hold myself together, but I allowed myself to sob a bit every now and then during the story. He gave me a sympathetic and somber look as he kept his eye focused on me, making sure I was fine with what I was saying.

"And that's how I got here," I finished, wiping the last of the tears from my bloodshot eyes.

"That is quite the tale," he remarked with a voice full of kind voice. I smiled at him, my face glowing a bit which made him smile, not a sad smile, but a joyful one. "Now, I suppose I should tell my tale."

He straightened his back and was about to speak, but as he did he started coughing a bit, his cough sounded like a hybrid mix of a groan and a rasp. It was like his body was shaking and groaning with his cough as if he was a structure groaning in the wind. I saw blood splatter as on his hand as he continued to cough, but after he finished he just rubbed it on the mattress as if it happened often. My eyes travelled from the blood stain back to his face as he began to recount the events of his betrayal.

"I, like you went to Beacon, but I finished my training and became a full fledged Hunter along with my team. We were one of the best, the strongest. I was never the bravest or the strongest, but my strength grew so as time passed I became a warrior of might, I even got to marry the woman I was in love with, but my new arrogance was my downfall. We went on a mission, our final mission and on that mission I charged towards a horde of Grimm, thinking I could defeat them, I was terribly mistaken. We managed to defeat the Grimm, but we lost one of our own because of my mistake."

His mouth was in a scowl as he thought about that memory and I stared at him with curiosity and anticipation to what happened next.

"I do not wish to remember this next memory much so I will shorten it. I was blamed for what happened by my teammates, but I blamed myself more than anyone else. One day, as I took a daily stroll in the Emerald Forest I was attacked by my brethren. I was betrayed! They attempted to murder me, but I escaped with severe and perhaps fatal wounds. Thankfully, I managed to get to the school infirmary and get healed before escaping Beacon."

"And you came here," I finished, but he shook his head.

"No, I was hunted. They wanted me gone, thinking revenge would console them, but they were wrong."

"That's so sad," I commented and he nodded, his mouth in a sad frown. "That's why you were afraid of me, you thought they were hunting you."

"Yes, after they gave up on hunting me, I came here to this small town and purchased the Metastract Manor to live in."

"Well, what do you do now?" I asked and he slowly raised a finger to point at himself, more specifically at the wounds.

"These wounds were created by their weapons. Each weapon was coated in a special concoction of dust that keeps the wounds fresh therefore they will reopen as long as I live. I have spent my time here keeping myself from bleeding out."

"Oh," I sheepishly said, turning as red as my surname. "So is there a way to heal it?"

"Not that I have discovered, Aeren herself has not found a cure on her drives."

"Have you found anything recently?"

"What's the point. I found nothing almost 20 years ago. I'll find nothing now," he grumbled in anger and I raised an eyebrow.

"Tell me you've updated Aeren's Drives."

"Updated her drives?" he asked and I mentally face palmed.

"Updated her drives lets her get the most recent details on anything. Maybe even including a cure to that dust."

He stared at me for several moments before turning to the android.

"Aeren update your-"

"Already underway sir," she responded simply with a bored expression.

We waited for several moments before Mr. Smiethrun spoke.

"Why didn't you tell me about updating your drives?"

"You never asked sir," she answered and he groaned in annoyance.

Soon her eyes blinked several times, signaling she was done. We waited several minutes more before she finally turned to look at us.

"I have discovered a cure. It would seem the dust soon became wide spread and a cure was invented for it. I can concoct it, but I will need assistance," Aeren stated and looked over at me. "Ms. Rose? Would you please aid me in creating a cure?"

"Um, sure," I answered and I heard the man chuckle before laughing, holding his chest as he laughed heartily.

"After twenty years, you walk into my life and just whisk away the pain," he laughed and put a hand on my shoulder. "If you find this cure, then I owe you my life."

"No, this is just repaying you for saving mine," I said, but cut myself off after that.

"What?" he asked, not knowing of how Aeren had saved me after everyone tried to murder me.

"Nothing, that was just... I'm going to go help Aeren make the cure," I squeaked and ran off with the robotic butler.

It took several hours, but we soon finished the cure and when we returned to see Mr. Smiethrun sitting on a chair, playing with his weapon. He had transformed it into a large morning star weapon.

It looked like he swung the weapon around so that the grip his right hand held on to snapped in line with the rest of the weapon. The different parts and armor plates of the weapon must have shifted and transformed until he was holding a morning star-like weapon. The bottom of the long handle had a blunt tip probably for knocking people out with a strong blow. The top had what any mace would, a head with sharp pointed pieces, but he didn't have spikes on it.

Instead there were large, purple dust crystals formed into large, flat, and sharp plates. It kinda reminded me of dorsal fins on a dolphin or something except they gave off a menacing sort of feeling. Below them were smaller, metal versions of the dust crystal plates. At the very top of the head was a large spike made of the same purple dust crystal.

"Whoa," I said as I looked at it and he looked back to see me.

"Oh, hello there," he said as I approached.

"Is that a morning star?"

"Yes, I specially designed it at Signal. They said I couldn't use dust crystals as a close combat weapon. It took a while to get the formula to keep the dust strong enough to not get broken when it hits, but it works!" he remarked loudly in a more joyful tone, but with his low voice it made me stifle a giggle.

"You're happier," I said and he nodded.

"Yes I am, I'm about be healed. Why wouldn't I be?"

I laughed and handed him the cure, a pink colored dust in a vial.

"So how do I use this?" I asked and I took the vial, poured some in my hand, then it turned into pink energy like the healing dust Aeren used.

I put it over the cut on his chest and it disappeared, leaving no scar or sign it was there.

"Incredible," he gasped in awe and I handed him the vial.

Several minutes later he was on his feet, stretching and feeling like a strapping young lad, or as he says anyway.

"This is incredible!" he laughed and pointed at Aeren. "Get my clothes Aeren, time to look awesome again."

"Awesome?" I asked and he nodded. We waited and soon Aeren came with a set of clothes for him.

That's when I actually noticed he was only wearing boxers so I turned around as he changed into his clothes. When he finished I turned around to see him wearing black trousers with leather boots. A brown belt was wrapped around his trousers and he wore a black coat that was buttoned on the left side of his chest with the bottom of it hanging around his lower legs like a cloak. I assumed he also wore a shirt underneath.

He grinned madly and hugged me, almost as tight as Yang, almost. I blushed in embarrassment as he let me down, then kissed me on the forehead.

"I owe you my life Ruby Rose," he stated solemnly with sincerity in his voice.

"It's nothing," I said, but he slapped a hand against my shoulder playfully.

"Nothing? Nothing! I gotta owe you something."

I stared at him and he stared at me back, tilting his head in confusion.

"What?"

"When we first met you pointed a gun at me and spoke like a depressed old man. Now you're talking like my big sister, Yang."

"That does tend to happen, sort of a habit," he said as he smiled and laughed. "but you did just possibly save my life and freed me from an existence of pure, unadulterated pain. So I guess I should be happy."

"Yeah," I said and started thinking of what I should do next. "Hey, Mr. Smiethrun?"

"Yes Ruby?" he asked and I looked down a bit.

Immediately, I felt the air of joy and happiness dull and become more solemn and depressing.

"C-can I... well, can I stay here?" I asked, knowing that if I went back I would get killed.

"Stay here? With me?" he asked, his voice back to that raspy, low one. "I suppose, but for how long?"

"Well, I dunno," I shrugged and he gave me another one of his sympathetic looks before nodding.

"I shall allow this. Stay as long as you feel like you need to be here. If there is anything you need, ask Aeren or I," he stated with his calm, collective demeanor back.

He turned and looked at the fireplace that was still lit. I yawned and right then and there realized how tired I was.

"It's 1:00 AM, I believe you should be in bed," Mr. Smiethrun stated and I nodded as I yawned again.

My eyelids were getting heavy and I was starting to feel really, really drowsy.

"Aeren, please take her to a room for her to stay in," I heard him say as I lay down on couch and fell into darkness.

* * *

Third Person POV

The day after the events of the first year's first mission, Beacon had gone up in an uproar. Parents were getting doubts and reporters and journalists alike were attempting to dig up 'secrets' that didn't exist. Fortunately for the headmaster, Ms. Goodwitch took up the job of keeping the press off of Beacon which left him to finding a way to replace the R in RWBY.

He eventually was forced to give the team a new recruit, an exceptionally strong huntress they had recruited later into the school year.

"Prof. Ozpin?" Weiss gasped in shock as he entered the Team RWBY, now WBY dorm.

"Hello children," he greeted, his calm and collective nature back.

The memories of yesterday's events in the headmaster's office was still etched into their minds. He rarely ever showed off that side of him.

"What are you doing here sir?" Blake questioned as she raised an eyebrow.

"I am here to introduce your new teammate."

"New teammate?" Yang growled, angry that Ozpin was already replacing her little sister. "What gives you the right to replace my little sister!"

"Shut up you brute," Weiss snapped, but she turned to glare at the heiress.

"Shut up? Shut up!" she roared and her hair caught fire, turning into a torch that flowed down her back.

"Yang, please," Blake consoled and the blonde brawler calmed down.

"Who's this new teammate," Yang grumbled angrily and Ozpin stepped aside to show a girl their age, about Weiss' height with short hair with bangs that stopped right above her eyes that had a rust color and wearing a rust colored vest over a black tank top with denim shorts along with rust colored combat boots.

"Meet Roxanne Redruick," he introduced and she looked at them, a smile on her face.

"Hi!" she greeted in a peppy tone.

"She is a late entry into Beacon, but in her trial run defeated a small group of Ursa Major and slew a King Taijitu on her journey back to Beacon," he explained and Weiss nodded in approval while Blake kept her stoic look. Yang though held an unimpressed look, knowing that Ruby had fought a group of Beowolves and slew a Nevermore.

"Pft, that's nothing. Ren already did that and Ruby killed a Nevermore."

"Ms. Xiao Long," Ozpin growled and she looked at him, arms still crossed, but her eyes held a bit of fear in them after antagonizing the headmaster. "While all of us grieve over Ms. Rose's... demise, we must move on in her honor. She would prefer if you became a huntress, would she not?"

Yang never thought of it like that and sighed as she accepted this fate, nodding in agreement.

"Good, now please help Roxanne integrate into Team RWBY, she will lead from now on."

He closed the door and the four girls began to talk.

"Hello, I'm Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company and soon to be huntress," the ice queen introduced, holding out her hand.

The new girl shook it, obviously excited to meet her.

"Blake Belladonna," the disguised Faunas greeted and shook her hand.

"Yang Xiao Long," the blonde introduced, but the girl didn't shake her hand. Instead she just strolled over to look at the 'bunk beds' the three girls had set up with their leader on their third day at Beacon. "Hey?"

"What?" Roxanne sneered, her peppy voice now a cold one.

Yang was caught off guard, but she narrowed her eyes and snapped back with her hot headed attitude.

"Is there a problem?"

"Yeah, I don't like people thinking some kid is better than me," she scoffed and Yang grit her teeth as her hair lit up once more.

"What did you say!" she shouted in rage.

Blake had to shoot Gambol Shroud around the brawler, the her black ribbon connected to it wrapping itself around her friend in order to keep her back from the new team leader.

"I said I don't want to be compared to a weakling. Something wrong with your hearing dumb blonde?"

That was the last strike, it was two completely different things to call Ruby weak and call Yang a dumb blonde, but right now all the brawler was concerned with was that she had insulted her and her family and now she needed to beat the candy out of this kid like she was a pinata.

Right before Yang could use her fire to burn Blake's ribbon, Jaune and his team burst through the door, wide eyed.

"We heard screaming," Jaune said and looked to see the new girl.

"Who's she?"

"I'm the new R in RWBY," Roxanne exclaimed, but that just made Yang more enraged.

"No she's not, she's my new punching bag!" the Y in RWBY shouted, but the second before she could fire Ember Celica, they all heard clicking.

The click clack of heals resonated through the hall and they all knew who was coming.

"Crap, it's past curfew," Jaune squeaked and quickly, Team JNPR rushed out of the room and locked their door, then Team RWBY locked theirs. They jumped into their bed and lay down quietly save for Rayna who had no idea of what was going on.

"What's going on?" she asked, but no one answered her for fear of who was coming.

The door was unlocked through the teacher's key as Glynda Goodwitch peered in.

"Excuse me, who are you?" she asked, her hand going down to her crop.

"I'm the new team member of Team RWBY," she explained and Glynda narrowed her eyes.

"So you're the new member of team leader? Well it's past curfew, now please go to bed. I'll let you off with a warning this time."

She slammed the door shut and Roxanne was left standing there, shaken by the hard glare given to her by the teacher.

"Guys? Where do I sleep?" Roxanne asked and everyone's finger pointed at the bunk atop Weiss'.

She groaned and slipped out of her clothes and climbed into bed, careful not to fall off the suspended upper bunk. She peered down and saw the blonde brawler looking at her, giving her a cheeky grin knowing that she had won this round. Roxanne glared at her and Yang glared back, the rivalry between the two growing.

Meanwhile, in the headmaster's office, Ozpin paced back and forth, wondering on what his next course of action would be. He had been quick to give Team RWBY a new leader, the process breaking his heart at replacing Ruby only the day after her death, but he had done what needed to be done for them to participate in the Vytal Tournament.

Suddenly, a beeping came from his scroll and he looked down at it. One of the many custom programs he had installed in it, this particular one was used for a mission he had completed so long ago with his team own team.

"This is impossible," he murmured as he looked over the scroll.

It showed a location in Vytal, a place in the far south of region. He remembered going there and placing the artifact in its tomb. He put a hand to his mouth in horror as he realized it had been disturbed and the artifact must be gone.

"Oh no," he spoke in horror and pulled up the calling screen, typing in a number.

He activated another program and called the number. The program in question did not allow his call to be tracked since this particular call would be looked down upon by most people. As he awaited the other person on the line to answer he listened to the soothing noises of Beacon's clocktower's clockworks above him. The gears turned and the clock ticked, sending the noise into his ears and calming his nerves to an extent.

"A call from the headmaster of Beacon. Oh how I am so very honored," a baritone voice sarcastically spoke, its tone of voice calm, but sociopathic in a way. "To what honor am I graced by this call? Business? Or has Beacon set its sights on depriving us bounty hunters of our jobs?"

"I... I require your services," he stated and a low chuckle could be heard from the other end of the call.

"What might I do for you Prof. Ozpin?"

"I need you to find a thief, one who has stolen a rather... important object of my interests. I believe you should start at the southern region of Vytal, I shall give you the coordinates if you accept this job."

"It depends on the reward," he heard and Ozpin sent a message to him. "10,000 Lien, impressive. I'll take the job."

"Thank you," Ozpin replied and ended the call after sending him the coordinates, not knowing that the bounty hunter had called up a second video feed.

"Did he know?" a feminine figure asked the bounty hunter and he shook his head.

"No, he has know clue that he just spoke to his thief," he chuckled, holding up a metallic artifact with markings engraved all over it.

"Now tell me, how soon can you acquire the rest of the pieces?"

"Only six remain, this was one of Beacon's Headmaster's two pieces. Another sits with the Glynda Goodwitch, two more are held by a man in hiding, and the last two are hidden across the continent. I assume this will take me some time seeing as four pieces are held by hunters and a huntress. The last two should not be to hard to acquire."

"Good, very, very good," the mysterious woman stated with a smile. "Report to me once you find the next artifact, Deadlock"

Her words did not fall lightly on the bounty hunter's ears however as he scowled, his poisonous green eyes narrowing and glaring at the silhouette of the woman.

"Do not command me as if I was one of your little soldiers," he growled, his baritone voice filling with venom. "I was once Hunter, now I am Bounty Hunter."

"And you work for the highest bidder," she yawned, but was caught off guard by his next words.

"No, I work for the man with the greatest challenge. The hunt excites me," he corrected and cut the connection.

* * *

**Here we are**

**The second chapter**

**So remember, tell me how it goes**

**I hope you like these improvements I've made**

**So**

**As always**

**Review, Favorite, and Follow**

**Lord Revan Flame, signing out**


	3. My First Day in a Manor

**Hello viewers**

**Ch-Ch-Ch-Chapter Three!**

**So, here we are half way through the preloaded chapters**

**Hopefully you've like the last two chapters**

**So here we have the next chapter**

**Now, let us begin**

* * *

Ruby POV

"Mm," I moaned as I woke up.

Everything felt wierd though, but I don't know what. I was careful not to sway my bunk bed, but when I felt a desk next to me I quickly fixed my vision and looked around. I wasn't in my dorm room, now I was in a large bedroom in a crimson colored bed.

A large tv was set on the wall next to a closet in front of me. The room was set like this, a door on the right side of the room, the bed in the opposite corner facing the closet near the door with a tv inbetween the two, mounted on the wall. The other side of the room had a dresser and a lamp on it with my clothes on it.

Wait, my clothes?

I pulled up my blanket and blushed when I saw pale skin so I quickly ran over and got dressed quickly. It was all felt new and I wondered why, then it hit me. Metastract Manor, Benedict, Aeren, Beacon, the betrayal, it all just hit me and I crumpled to the ground.

My knees held together as my legs parted and I sat there, my eyes wide and mouth open as I thought about it all. My eyes started watering as I began sobbing, but I was cut off by knocking on the door.

"Ruby, you awake yet?" I heard and got up, wiping the tears that had fallen. I opened the door and stared up at the tall, thin man with coffee brown hair and steel grey eyes. "Oh, there you are. I see you're wearing the repaired clothes."

"Hi sir," I sheepishly greeted with a shy wave of my hand after noticing that my clothes was perfectly sown back together, a near impossible task.

"Hello Ruby, are you feeling okay?" he asked, his voice in its gently tone made my heart feel a little better as I remembered his kindness so I nodded in response. "Good. Aeren has prepared breakfast if you want any at this moment?"

"Okay," I replied and followed him from the room I was staying to the dining room.

We walked down a hall, lit by scented candles that gave off a nice aroma. I discovered we were on the second floor of the manor since when we exited the hall we came to the enormous foyer. I followed him down the curved staircase and to the hall right of the front doors.

* * *

Soon we came a big dining room with Aeren setting the table in it.

"Good morning Master Smith. Good morning Ms. Rose," the android greeted and I looked up at my new friend.

"Master Smith?"

"Oh, just something I haven't found out how to fix yet. For now being called Master though is kinda fun," he chuckled, but I just kept looking at him. "What?"

"Master _Smith_?"

"Oh, you mean my last name. I shorten it to Smith around other people, it's much easier to say."

"Well that's cool," I replied as he led me to the table. Pulling out a chair for me to sit in, he waved his arm around and gestured at the seat for me. "Thank you," I thanked in a fancy voice like some rich person making him raise an eyebrow and smile.

I smiled back as he moved to sit down next to me while Aeren brought over a plate with pancakes on them. She set a small stack on mine and another one on Mr. Smith's. As we ate I just picked at my food, cutting it up a bit and ripping small chunks off with my fork, but I barely nibbled on a piece.

Mr. Smith seemed to notice because he put a hand on my shoulder and I looked over at him.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he requested to know and I shook my head. "You don't want to talk about it do you?"

I shook my head again and he sighed, his breath carrying his weariness and stress. I tilted my head a bit as I looked at him and he looked up again to meet my eyes.

"Is there a way for me to help?"

I thought about that, was there a way? He could beat up everyone at Beacon and be my bodyguard... nah, to unrealistic. I thought about it some more and it clicked in my head.

"Well I left my weapon, Crescent Rose at Beacon and I can't go get it for reasons I can't tell you," I lied and recited his words from yesterday. He tilted his head and raised his eyebrow in a questioning manner, but shrugged it off.

"Very well," he said in an accepting tone and called his robotic butler. "Aeren?"

"Yes sir?" she asked as she appeared behind us. I jumped and looked back to see her while Mr. Smith just turned casually since he probably got use to this.

"I need you to find Ruby's weapon at Beacon. Assuming you've already gathered data on our guest, you most likely know where it is and how to retrieve it."

"Yes sir," she responded again, this time to answer.

With that she walked out the door and I looked at him.

"How is she going to get it?" I asked, unsure if she would be able too.

"Aeren was/is and always shall be an assassin droid, even if the programming that I deleted is gone, the skills she had are still loaded in her drives. She'll use those skills to sneak in, grab your weapon, and get out."

"Oh," I responded, surprised and just nodded after that.

We finished our breakfast and he took it to what I assumed was the kitchen to clean it. While he did that I wandered out of the dining room and started exploring the manor. I came back to the large living room I was in before, the large windows with massive drapes tied up above them, the fireplace, now gone dark, and the many pieces of furniture littering the room.

There was a piano in the corner left of the door and a bar on the right of the door. Further up was a long glass table with two couches on either side and behind both couches next to the windows were tables set with covers and potted plants probably tended to by Aeren. At the far end of the room was a carpet with two chairs and the fireplace. Above that sat the shelf with pictures in frames and the painting of a temple above that. On either sides of the fireplace were large glass cases holding weapons or old artifacts.

I walked around, looking at everything before I came to the fireplace. I looked up at the picture of Mr. Smith's team and get a better look at it. A younger form of my new friend stood to the right of a girl, his left arm draped over her. She had shortish longish raven black hair because it went down to her shoulders and brushed them unlike my hair which was cut before it even touched my shoulders. Her eyes shined a bright magenta like amethysts being shined on.

Next to them on Mr. Smith's left was a young man about his age, silver hair cascading down his head smoothly, but combed perfectly and emerald green eyes lit glowing with knowledge. With them on the girl's right was another girl, a thin, smaller girl with long brown hair and electric blue eyes.

I stared at them, confused in my thoughts since they seemed familiar, well Mr. Smith was in it so it must be familiar, but it was something else too.

"Wandering off are we?" I jumped and turned around in shock to see my host standing there, arms crossed and staring at the picture too. "I remember them."

"Sorry," I apologized and he just smiled warmly before patting me on the head with his hand. I moved his hand off of me and rubbed whatever essence he left like it was a bunch of dust on me which made him laugh. "Hey."

"What?" he asked innocently with a smirk and I punched him lightly in the shoulder.

We stood there for a moment before he walked over and sat down on a chair, picking up a remote. He pressed the On button on it and the painting of the temple moved up so that a TV could replace it. My eyes widened as I sat down in the chair next to him, both of us looking at the television that had appeared out of the wall.

"Whoa, that's awesome!" I exclaimed in awe and he chuckled at my response.

"I know," he remarked with a smile.

He switched a couple channels until we arrived on a news report.

"Alright, that's enough news on the economics today. Now to you Lisa," the reporter finished as we arrived on the news channel.

_"Thanks Cyril,"_ the lady on the news, Lisa Lavender, I think her name was spoke.

_"Recent events have caused public uproar as over half of Scnhee Dust Company shipments have been stolen by the Faunas extremist group known as The White Fang. Nearly a hundred dust shops dotting Vytal have reported being broken into and with the events known as the Harbor Battle where several students from Beacon Academy engaged Roman Torchwick and the White Fang, it is now revealed that both the Crime Lord and the Faunas Extremists are in league with each other. Please report any sightings or activity to any emergency number and remember to not provoke these violent criminals."_

I looked over at Mr. Smith to see his reaction and was surprised to see him scowling at the TV, probably angered by the White Fang.

"Dang White Fang," he grumbled as he flipped the channel to something else. "Always making a mess of the world for Hunters to clean up."

I sat there, quietly as I processed his words. He obviously despised the White Fang, but what about actual Faunas? Is he one of those anti-Faunas people who hate them like Cardin?

"Uh, Mr. Smith?"

He stopped watching the television and looked over at me, eyebrow raised with a curious look on his face.

"Yes Ruby?" he asked back and I nervously squirmed under his gaze.

"Well, what do you think about the White Fang? I mean, are they doing good things for their people or are they evil?"

He tilted his head a bit before sighing that sigh that seemed to carry his burden with it before answering.

"Ruby, in all honesty I believe that their actions of rebellion are misguided and will only send them to their depths," he stated simply and I felt my heart sink realizing he was anti-Faunas.

"Oh, okay," I responded and looked back to watch the TV.

After a while his gaze left me and he went back to watching the television too. We watched some more news before he changed it to an Achieve Men concert and started laughing as Gavin did something stupid that messed up the preformance before it started, but I couldn't focus on the recorded concert as I thought about living with a Faunas hater.

I got up and started leaving, but he noticed and called out to me, "Ruby? Where are you going?"

"Just going to go outside," I spoke, pointing my fingers at the door.

"You can go out to the town if you want. I suggest Henry's Bakery. He makes wonderful baked goods," he chuckled and went back to watching the Achieve Men.

* * *

Several Hours Later

"Ah!" I moaned loudly as I ate the cookie, the first one I had in a while.

Yang had made me go on a die-it, before... the incident. Anyways, before that incident she made me stop eating cookies to check my figure, but I'm so small and tiny I don't need a die it.

I happily walked down the sidewalk, eating the cookies I got from Henry's Bakery. Mr. Smith was so right, this is heavenly!

"Help!"

I stopped as I heard the scream and ran around to corner to see a girl being attacked by a bunch of boys. They were ganging up on her, cornering her in an alley. I didn't want to know what they were planning so I reached for Crescent Rose to find it missing.

"Oh, right," I grumbled as I got in a stance to start running.

Thankfully, the healing process was now over and I could start fighting again so I rushed forward with the help of my semblance, a red and black bullet that hit one of the three boys.

They were all around my age, but since I was small the boys were definitely taller than me and so was the girl I was defending.

"What the? Hey!" the boy I hit shout as he got up from the brick wall, rubbing the back side of his head. "Who do you think you are?"

"Who do you think you are?" I snapped back.

_"Really, is that all I got?"_

"A human! This animal doesn't deserve to be here!"

"They're people too!" I stated firmly and looked over at the girl, discovering she was a faunas with small puppy dog ears and a little puppy dog nose.

The bully frowned and gestured at the two other boys, probably his goons. They moved towards me, but with my huntress training I easily dodged their attacks. One swung at me with his fist, but I ducked under it and punched him in the gut before slamming my elbow on his head. He fell down, nearly unconscious while I yelped and held my bruising elbow.

"Funny bone," I moaned in pain as I held the limb.

The second goon tried to tackle me, but I ran and ducked under him with my semblance. He landed on the ground and groaned as he got up. I swiftly swung my leg and I kicked him in the side of the head with my red and black boot. He fell down, definitely unconscious.

Suddenly, I was tackled to the ground by the first guy, the leader.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid_

He raised his fist, but the girl I was helping jumped on top of him and started beating her fists on his head. He shouted in pain as he felt the feminine fists beating his skull so he reached behind him to grab her, but I kneed him in the groin causing him to squeal in pain and almost fall on me, but I put my hands on his chest and pushed him off of me.

The girl helped me up and I smiled at her making her smile back.

"Thanks," she said, blushing a bit out of embarrassment.

"You're welcome," I responded with a hero's smile.

We left the alley with a whoosh of my cloak and a kick to the bully's head, knocking him unconscious. I guess I was following her, protecting her in case any other faunas haters came by. She was a young girl about my age, probably younger with curly, fiery orange hair and clover green eyes.

"So why'd you help me?" she asked and I blinked, not realizing she asked me a question before I hit a pole.

"Ow," I groaned as I held my nose and she stifled her laughter. "Sorry, I just don't like people getting hurt."

"But I'm not a person, I'm an animal," she sadly said, remembering the bully's words.

"No, you're a person too," I simply responded, crossing my arms and huffing to make a point.

She looked at me with a confused expression and stopped to stare at me.

"You're not like other people are you?" she asked and I smirked as I answered.

"Nope," I chirped and she tilted her head even more in confusion.

"Who are you?"

"Ruby Rose," I introduced and extended my hand.

"Valance O'Dehern, wolf faunas, er actually pup faunas," she replied back and shook my hand. "So, how did you do all of that? I mean that super speed and the fighting? I've only heard about hunters and huntresses doing that and also bad guys, but you're to young like me to be a huntress and you saved me so you're not a bad guy... I think."

"I'm a huntress in training," I explained and her eyes widened.

"Really?" she gasped and I nodded with a wide smile, reveling in the glory I was feeling.

We starting walking again and the whole time she asked me questions about where I studied and trained, what it was like at Beacon, but with all those questions, she had to save the most dreadful for last.

"So why're you here?" she innocently asked and I slumped my shoulders as the memories came flowing back in my head. She must've noticed my depressed look because she immediately pulled back the question. "I mean, if you don't want to tell me, it's completely fine!"

"Um, thanks," I happily thanked and she smiled as we kept walking. "Where are we going anyway?"

"I'm headed to my house. I don't know where you're going," she said and I laughed at that.

"Well, I guess I should go back to where I'm staying.'

"Where are you staying?"

"Up there," I said and pointed at the hill where Metastract Manor stood tall surrounded by its brick and iron wall with the surrounding land full of trees and small fields with tall grass.

She gasped loudly and her eyes almost seemed to fall out of her head like when Yang found that Ninjas of Love book that Blake read and started teasing our secretly faunas teammate making her eyes go so wide I swear they were going to pop right out of her head.

"Seriously?" she asked and I nodded making her squeal drawing some attention. "Oh, sorry, but seriously? You live up in Metastract Manor?"

"Yeah, does that mean something?"

"That place has been abandoned for years! Just recently I heard from my dad that some guy purchased it and started renovating the place. A blonde lady comes into town a lot to get medicine and food, but she doesn't look like she eats much so we assume she's the one who lives up there, probably with her husband who does eat a lot," the faunas theorized, but since I knew the truth I just giggled. "What?"

"That's not why," I laughed and pointed at the manor. "There's a guy who bought the house, he use to be Hunter, but he got really hurt so he came here and started living there. The blonde lady's an android he made so she goes down to get medicine all the time since he was poisoned. I just found a cure for him yesterday when I got here."

"Wait, you just got here yesterday?" she asked and I nodded. She started processing all the information and tilted her head in confusion. "So there's an ex-hunter, his butler robot, and you living up there?"

"Veteran hunter, not ex. He's not out of being a hunter, just retired."

"Isn't that the same thing?" she asked, but I shook my head, putting my curled up fists on my hips.

"No, being retired means he's still a hunter, just not active anymore. Quitting means he's completely out, no more hunting Grimm and bad guys anymore."

"Oh," she said, finally getting it after I clarified for her.

We kept walking until we came to the intersection where one road led up to Metastract Manor and another led to her house.

"I gotta go," I said, noticing the orange sky and she nodded.

"Thanks for saving me back there," she thanked and I nodded with a smile. "You know, you're my actual first human friend."

"You're not my first faunas friend," I replied and she smiled.

"Well it's a good thing not all humans are all bad," she laughed and started walking away leaving me to wait for the street lights to change so I could walk across the street.

Soon I was walking up the road to Metastract Manor. By the time I got back to the place I was staying the orange sky had been exchanged with a dark blue sky filled with gleaming white stars. I approached the manor to find Mr. Smith sitting on a chair outside on the front porch, sipping from a cup of hot cocoa.

"Hi," I greeted and he aknowledged me with a raised finger which meant wait while he took a sip from his hot cocoa.

"Hello Ruby," he greeted back with a smile. "Hot chocolate? There's a cup and a small box of hot chocolate mix in the kitchen, just pour in the hot water near it."

I nodded and walked in, soon coming back out from the kitchen with a cup of hot cocoa. We sat there, sipping hot chocolate as we stargazed.

"Tell me, have you ever thought about what's up there?" he asked, gesturing at the sky. "I mean in space, beyond our world and even on the moon."

"You mean that permament crescent moon?" I asked, looking at the broken globe in the night sky while drinking some more hot cocoa.

"That and beyond," he corrected with a smile and another sip of his drink.

"Are you talking aliens? Or space Grimm?"

"Oh please, there's no such thing," he scoffed and took another sip of his hot cocoa. "I mean other worlds, what might they be like."

"Better than Remnant," I replied almost instantly, feeling all the betrayal from the incident two days ago.

"I'm not sure about that. I mean they wouldn't have Hunters or Huntresses, I think."

"Yeah, but there wouldn't be Grimm either!"

"That's no fun, no evil to fight."

"No, there's always evil somewhere," I replied, stating the awful truth.

"Yes, but there's always good somewhere, actually a better translation would be there will always be good and evil. It's the balance and it can never be broken, no matter how hard you try."

"But what if you just kill all the evil guys?"

"Death is never a positive thing, not if it's a hero's or even if it's a criminal. And if you did manage that, nature would just have to make a power strong enough to send good down to evil's level to balance out the scales. It's always happened."

"Really?"

"Of course. Have you heard of the Grimm Uprising?"

I squinted my eyes as I started thinking, taking a small sip of my hot cocoa while doing it.

"I heard a bit from my mom and then a little here and there."

"Well," he began, holding a strait line on his mouth like Prof. Ozpin, "many years ago in the time of my forefathers, the Hunters and Huntresses of Remnant attempted to hunt down the Grimm to extinction, to end their dark presence for all eternity."

"But the balance had to be kept," I finished and he nodded.

"As they neared the end of their hunt, the four Grimm Legends came and attacked."

"Grimm Legends?"

"Yes, ancient and powerful Grimm, thought to be myths created by the first humans and faunas to walk Remnant. They were rumored to have awoken during our people's Great Hunt as we called it. From the shadows they came, roaring and screeching, smashing and bashing, cutting and stabbing, and breathing fire upon our homes."

I thought about that, four super powered Grimm that attacked and slaughtered everyone.

"So there were four of them?" I asked and he nodded.

"The first seen was a massive Beowolf that became known as the Apex, the strongest and thought to be leader of the Beowolves."

My eyes widened as I heard that. All my life I had thought that Beowolves were kinda cool in a powerful creature sort of way, not in the evil life killing monster sort of way.

"It led and attacked villages, soon attacking cities, and then it eventually led a horde of Beowolves into the capital of Atlas."

My eyes went as wide as Valance's earlier and I gasped.

"Then the second Grimm appeared, a massive aquatic Grimm. It was known as Megalotic, an enormous shark Grimm rumored to have existed during the prehistoric age. It hunted the ships and boats that wandered the ocean, feasting upon the drowning sailors or unfortunate passengers of ships that were left floating in the ocean waves. It alone caused a great flood that kept the shoreline of Vacuo."

"Wow," I gasped in fear and awe as I realized the true extent of these Grimm Legends.

"The third was a large winged Grimm covered in feathers that seemed to come from the void of colors itself. It was said to be the mother of all Nevermores, a Grimm known as Forevermore, the eternal Grimm hawk that terrorized the towns and cities of Mystral."

I let that sink in for a moment, an alpha alpha Beowolf, a ginormous Grimm shark, and the mother of all Nevermores. Then it hit me, there was a fourth Grimm Legend and he hadn't talked about it yet.

"Wait, what's the fourth Grimm Legend?"

"The fourth," he murmured and began to tell that tale. "It is actually the first, the most deadly, and most terrifying. It terrorized Vytal with its breath of fire and wings of demons. A massive repitilian creature rumored to have evolved from the Grimm of the prehistoric age. A near impenetrable body of pitch black scales and bone white plating marked with the natural red marks of the Grimm. It's roar made people run in fear and its fiery breath turned metal into melted scrap."

"What was it?" I asked, now on the edge of my seat.

"That called it Malisis, the Dragon Grimm."

My eyes bulged and my mouth hung open, but I was brought back to my senses as Mr. Smith prevented my hot cocoa from spilling and scathing my legs.

"Thanks," I said, blushing in embarrassment at what was about to happen.

"Your welcome child," he replied and got up, having finished his drink already.

I sat there, sipping hot chocolate for a while before I decided to go inside to sit by the fireplace.

* * *

Third Person POV

Yang was feeling pure, unadulterated hatred for her new teammate. The day after Roxanne's arrival she had woken up to find a pair of panties on her face so she quickly threw it off with disgust, but was met with the sight of the nude body of the girl who favored the color rust.

She screamed out loud and Roxanne had to be quick to grab a blanket, specifically Blake's blanket revealing the disguised cat faunas curled up like her animal side. Jaune and his team rushed in to find Roxanne covering her naked body with a blanket, Blake waking up and growling, Yang wide eyed and blushing, and Weiss just waking up, yawning.

"What?" the ice queen asked until she saw Roxanne next to her, covered only in a blanket and beet red.

No words left Weiss' gaping mouth and the eight teens stood there, the two males of the group blushing. Nora mumbled something about nothing interesting while Pyrrah covered Jaune's eyes and Ren looked away. Needless to say, it was a very interesting morning.

The whole day at every class and every study time, Roxanne was a very big nuisance to the faunas and brawler of Team RWBY where as the heiress was impressed by her skills as a leader which was her making the blonde do most of the work while Blake helped her and the two others worked together on other things. All of this combined with Ruby's death caused Yang to almost have an emotional breakdown, but since her partner was there to help her out as well as Ruby's best friend, the big sister of their deceased leader kept herself together.

Meanwhile, Team JNPR wasn't faring well and we exceeding at the same time. While emotionally they were scarred after the events of their first mission, having failed to save Ruby as they were out while leaving Pyrrah to defend them all alone as she had 'truthfully' said. All of these emotions of self pity, depression, and anger caused Jaune not to decline in his grades, but instead fueled him to start succeeding in the name of Ruby Rose, his best-friend and secret crush that he was never able to confess too.

The day was nearly through and Yang hoped she could just climb into bed to sleep off all the stress caused by that b****, Roxanne. However, she heard the oh so familiar sound of her sister's precious weapon, Crescent Rose unfolding and her eyes locked onto the girl in Rust colored clothes holding the remains of the scythe.

"What a flimsy farming tool," Roxanne scoffed in an unimpressed tone and that sent rage searing through Yang's mind as she jumped off the top bunk, almost making it fall off the books it was stacked on to attack her new team leader.

Both girls were sprawled on the ground, but were quickly set in a new positino as Yang's fist began continually colliding with Roxanne's face. Blood started covering the brawler's fist as her fist smashed the girl's nose inwards. Her partner soon recovered from the sudden shock and helped Weiss grab Yang before she could cause anything more permament.

"You little scumbag!" Yang screamed at the top of her lungs as she flailed her legs around, attempting to get at the girl who dared to disgrace her sister and ex-team leader's most valued possession.

"What?" Roxanne shouted back in anger while holding her bleeding nose that had blood all around it, some covering the bruises forming on the rest of her face.

"Don't you dare call Ruby's scythe a flimsy farm tool!" the blonde screamed as she seethed with hate and pure rage.

As the two continually argued, they didn't notice a flash of black and yellow move across the room. Blake, however, with years of training in the White Fang and honing her skills on her own saw the flash after she noticed the drawers of the cabinet open revealing an emptied drawer, specifically Ruby's old drawer.

She looked around while still holding her grip on Yang, noticing a flash of light on one of the shards of Crescent Rose's blade that were set down on the table in the center of the room. She quickly dropped Yang as a part of her plan. Weiss shouted in surprise, unable to hold onto the brute alone, but the blonde brawler did not get close to the bloody girl on the ground because a porcelain skin colored woman in a butler outfit ran into her.

The newcomer stumbled backwards after the impact, but her face showed no emotion, not even surprise nor pain. Blake grabbed Gambol Shroud quickly and tossed her sword at the intruder the second she pulled it from its sheath. It embedded itself into the woman's shoulder and into the wall behind her, effectively pinning her against the wall.

"What the? Who're you?" Yang demanded to know after she regained her bearings and saw the intruder.

The woman, a a platinum blonde haired woman with porcelain skin did not speak or made any move to answer in any way. Instead she grabbed the hilt of Gamol Shroud and pulled it out, ripping a bit of her skin off and revealing it to be metal plating that had crumpled under the impact of Blake's weapon.

"What in the name of?" Weiss gasped as she saw the inner machinery and wiring of Aeren's shoulder.

The ex-assassin droid moved up her arms for them to transform, however the sword that had pierced her shoulder had damaged her systems going down into her right arm. This verified into her main processer in under a second and so she pulled that hand back and reserved it for retrieving the rest of Ms. Rose's possessions. Her right arm opened up, metal plating shifting and moving itself to allow machinery space to take the form of an automatic rifle.

She pointed it at the group of four, preparing to fire. Unarmed they backed up, but Yang, being the berserker she was charged at her the moment she saw a flash of red and black in the duffel bag slung behind the android's back.

"That's my little sisters!" she roared and tackled the robotic butler of Benedict's against the wall.

Aeren was quick to recover from the shock in her system and so grabbed Yang by her face and threw her off, sending her flying into Blake. Weiss had taken the opportunity to grab Myrtenaster and began firing off blasts of different colors signifying the type of dust used to power them.

The wall where the android had been was obliterated, but Aeren had moved quickly to not be caught up in the place even if her chassis was built with a powerful metal. She fired off warning shots at Weiss' feet, causing her to jump backwards and hit her bed, falling on it and over it onto the floor.

She quickly moved to grab Crescent Rose and carefully placed it in her duffel bag with the rest of Ms. Rose's belongings. However, as she began to move to grab the shards of Crescent Rose's blade, Yang shot at her with Ember Celica, having put on and activated them.

The blasts of dust sent the table, the shards, and Aeren flying out the hole now made into the wall. Only seconds after that did the door explode to reveal Glynda Goodwitch, her crop out with Team JNPR, save for Pyrrah, frozen in a large chunk of ice curtesy of Weiss since her dust blasts had gone through the wall at them while they listened in on the battle.

Yang paled, her face once red with anger now ghostly white as she realized how this looked from an onlooker's point of view without knowing what had really happened. Glynda's face turned red as her green eyes widened in anger while she bared her grit teeth, preparing to berate the girl with remarks of unacceptable behavior and her disfunctional behavior in classes since her sister's death.

"Ms. Xiao Lo-" the blonde witch was cut off from her screaming by Prof. Port who charged into the room with his weapon, a rudimentry cross between an axe and a blunderbuss.

"Where is it!" he shouted, but everyone just stood there, staring at the professor clad in his pajamas wielding a blunderbuss with two axe heads on the stock. "What?"

"Peter, what are you wearing?" Glynda demanded to know, her voice still filled with rage.

"My night clothes Glynda, don't you recognize it yet?" he laughed heartily, but she scowled at him making him toss his weapon a bit into the air as he jumped in shock and fear before grabbing it it to run out of the dorm room.

"Ms. Xiao Long, to Prof. Ozpin's office. Now!" she screeched and Yang shot out of the room, careful not to anger the teacher anymore than she already was.

When the blonde entered the office she expected to find him drinking coffee and doing paperwork, but instead she found him standing up, hands planted on his glass desk to keep him up as he stared down at his scroll while the shadows of the clocktower's clockworks rotated throughout the room.

"Prof. Ozpin?" she cautiously asked and he moved his head up to show a disheveled expression.

Bags were on his eyes and his glasses were crooked on his face. A new mug, filled with coffee sat next to his scroll, now gone cold.

"Ms. Xiao Long," he gasped and fixed his glasses. "Why are you here?" Suddenly, his scroll beeped and he checked it, having received a message from Ms. Goodwitch. "Oh."

Yang squirmed in place, only in her pajamas while Ozpin looked at her.

"Ms. Xiao Long, Yang. My deepest sorrows and sympathy once more for the loss of your sister, but ever since her subsequent death you have acted irrational, beating students into bloody messes if they dare to say a word against her abilities and skills."

She continued to squirm uncomfortable under his gaze, her face turning red, but even she could see how much the words were taking out his strength. Yang didn't know how long he'd been awake, but it had been long and he needed to rest.

"Another issue to discuss is your academic drop in grades. Every class, in a single day have dropped by half their percentage."

"Prof. Ozpin, I'm sorry, bu-"

She was cut off as he suddenly keeled over, planting his forearm on the glass table in a desperate attempt to keep himself up. The blonde brawler quickly rushed over and helped him seat himself into his chair as he breathed heavily.

"Are you alright sir?"

"I'm fine Ms. Long, just... Could you get me more coffee?"

"No," she stated, putting her fists on her hips. "I want an explanation, Now."

He stared at her and sighed.

"I instructed Ms. Goodwitch to not disturb me while I researched an old project of mine."

"Lie," she stated as she stared at him.

"Excuse me?"

"You're lying, I can tell. That emotionless face you always have, it's not on right now. I want the real truth," she interrogated and he sighed heavily, knowing he could not withhold the truth from her.

"What I tell you now must never leave this room. Do you understand?" he asked as she grabbed him a new cup of coffee.

"Why?"

"You can understand why."

Yang silenced herself and closed the door she had came through. Locking it, she turned and walked up to the headmaster's desk, placing both hands on it.

"I want to know why all of this is happening. First my little sister is taken from me, then a robot thief steals all of her stuff, and now you look like a zombie!"

Ozpin stared at her, his mask now applied to his face as to keep his emotions in check.

"A robot thief stole Ms. Rose's belongings?" he asked and she growled. "Well, I am not sure if any of this is connected to my current state, but if this will help ease your stress. I am currently working on a mission issued to the hunters of my generation many years ago."

"A mission?"

"Yes," he responded and opened his scroll for her to see an image.

It was a metallic chalice, large about the size of Ember Celica fully activated. It was colored dull, dark steel kind of color with markings, no an ancient language engraved into the metal.

"This is an ancient artifact recovered during my time as a hunter. It is unknown of what power it holds, only a select few ever knew, but none the less it was deadly. It was stolen and used by a faunas extremist group, the precursors to the White Fang. We managed to retrieve it and stop them from using it to wrought the extinction of human kind, but it did not stop the great war in which many hunters and huntresses fought, including Mr. Arc's grandfather."

"So, what's going on now?"

"After the war, we were each given a piece or two of the artifact to hide. I was given two, one was hidden in the southern region of Vytal, another still lies in my hands. The hidden piece was discovered and stolen only yesterday and since then I have attempted to contact my fellow hunters who still hold the other artifacts."

"So you think someone is trying to rebuild this artifact thing?" she asked and he nodded.

"I must continue my work to find the rest of the pieces and guard them," Ozpin stated, but Yang punched him in the shoulder, causing him to convulse in pain.

"You weren't able to stop me from punching you and usually you're so calm and stuff, but right now you need to rest sir," she remarked, hands on her hips. "You're right, I need to get my act together. I need to get over Ruby's death, but that won't be for a while and you need to get your act together so you can work on this mission."

"Ms. Xiao Long," he began and got up, rising up on his legs after resting them. "I appreciate your suggestion, but I-"

She stopped him, putting a finger on his mouth making stare down at it through his glasses with an odd look.

"No, no more talking for you. You need to go lie down and res-"

She didn't get to finish as his cane flew up and whacked her hand away.

"I was not implying that I would not rest, I was about to tell you the real reason I can not rest."

"Real reason?"

He sighed and slumped back into his seat, fingers pinching the noise of his bridge as he sat there.

"Nearly 20 years ago I attended Beacon Academy and led a team of hunters and huntresses. One of those huntresses being Summer Rose," he explained and she gasped in shock.

"You knew-"

"Your mother? Yes, as well as your father and Ruby's."

"Wait, Ruby's?"

"Yes, did you think you came from the same parents? Ruby's father was one I despised for many years after an incident, but we eventually made up."

"Is that why you advanced Ruby two years up?" the blonde asked and he nodded.

"That and the amount of skill she already attained, most likely from the blood of a huntress and hunter in her. Your mother was a fast learner and her father along with yours were born warrior. However, with all the skill and power she held, I cannot stop the thought that I am the reason Ruby Rose perished."

Yang slapped him all the sudden and he sat back, bewildered by her sudden attack.

"Don't say that," she said through grit teeth, her long blonde hair now making a curtain over her face and shrouding her eyes in darkness. "It's not your fault."

He could see tears streaming down her face as she fell to her knees and started to weep. Ozpin, with his heart now moved began the journey to walk around the desk to the weeping student. His arms wrapped around her and enveloped her in a hug and she gladly accepted it, throwing her arms around the headmaster.

"If I had not moved her up so early, she would not be dead," Ozpin mourned, not knowing he was telling the truth.

"N-no, don't say that. It's my fault for n-not protecting her. I'm her big sister God dang it!" Yang cried out in despair and pain.

"Your mother was like a sister to me and her death caused so much inner turmoil within me," Ozpin explained as the daughter of his friend cried into his clothes, turning them wet with tears, but he did not care. All he cared for now was caring for the remaining daughter of Summer Rose. At least, he thought she was the last.

* * *

**Done**

**So I hope this chapter's been good**

**I wanted to rewrite how Valance and Ruby met**

**Also on the relationship between Benedict and Faunas**

**Does he hate 'em, does he like 'em**

**You'll have to find out in the next preloaded chapter  
**

**Review, Favorite, and Follow**

**Until next time,  
Lord Revan Flame  
**


	4. The Blacksmith's Shop

**Hello Fanfiction!**

**Chapter 4!  
**

**Here we are with the next chapter in this here betrayed story**

**So quick check**

**Do you like the story so far?**

**If so, leave a like my friends**

**Now, to the story**

* * *

Ruby POV

"Ms. Rose?"

My eyes slowly opened and I looked up at a woman with platinum blonde hair who stood over me. I let out a scream and fell out of the bed, right on my face.

"Ow," I groaned as I got up, wiping some dust off of myself.

"Are you okay Ms. Rose?" she asked.

"I'm okay, um..." I trailed off as I tried to remember her name.

"Unit N7-117, deemed Aeren by Master Smith," she answered and I mouthed and 'o'. **(A/N- If you get what N7 and 117 mean, you are a wonderful person)**

"Well, um Aeren, where's Benedict, er, Mr. Smith?"

"He is currently in a combat training scenario fighting automatons on the lands also purchased with the Metastract Manor."

"He's training?" I asked and she nodded. "Oh, well when did you get back?"

"Two hours, three minutes, and 48 seconds ago," she really accurately answered and my mouth just dropped a bit while my eyes widened. I quickly shook off the shock at how accurately she had answered and noticed the duffel bag on her back.

"What's that?"

"A duffel bag filled with your belongings."

"What?" I curiously asked and ran over to the duffel bag as she set it down.

I zipped it open and saw the shards of Crescent Rose's blade gleaming in the sunlight pouring in from the window.

"You actually got it," I gasped in shock and she nodded.

"Indeed Ms. Rose," Aeren responded and stood watching me as I looked it over. After several moments of me smiling while caressing the main body of my weapon, the android spoke up. "If I might interrupt, Master Smith has given me instructions to ask you if you wish for your weapon to be repaired."

I looked at her with a shocked expression before nodding furiously. I guess she took that as a yes because she continued.

"He knows of a local blacksmith who will be able to repair and/or modify your weapon. However, you will need to speak to him personally on the matter."

"Alright!" I shouted in joy and jumped up. "I'll go take a shower."

I ran out of the room, but a minute later I walked back in, blushing in embarrassment.

"Um, where's the bathroom?"

"Follow me please," she ordered and I walked with her down the hall to a room.

She opened it and showed me a pretty big bathroom. There was a shower, a tub, a large sink, and toilet.

"Okay, thanks," I said and started to take off my shirt, but stopped when I noticed she was still standing there. "Um, could you leave?"

"As you wish," she answered and began to leave when she stopped before turning around to face me again. "I shall bring your clothes in while you cleanse yourself."

"Um, thanks?" I said, turning even more red out of embarrassment in the awkward conversation we were having.

She finally left and I closed the door before stripping down and getting in the shower. I smiled and sighed in pleasure as I felt the warm water on me. Before long I heard the door open and heel clad feet click across the tiled ground. It left the bathroom and I peeked out of the shower curtains to see my usual red clothes on the side of the bathtub.

Soon I turned off the shower and dried myself before putting on my clothes, smelling the freshness of the clothes and smiling as I skipped out of the bathroom. I went back to my room to grab the duffel bag before heading to the front door. That's when I realized I didn't know where Mr. Smith was.

"Do you require assistance?" I heard and screamed in terror as Aeren appeared behind me.

"AH! PENNY!"

She stared at me in confusion, tilting her head like a dog wondering what their master said.

"Oh, it's just you Aeren. How'd you do that?" I quickly asked in shock.

"Do what?" she asked in confusion. "And what did you refer me to?"

"No, I was talking about my friend, Penny because she does that whole appear out of nowhere like you just did," I said and she nodded.

"Very well, now please follow me so I may lead you to Master Smith."

She led me out the front doors to the right side of the house where an open area held a punch of dummies, armored, straw, wooden, etc. A robotic automaton charged at Mr. Smith, but he turned it into scrap metal with a couple shots from his weapon. He continued firing at several more automatons, but there were to many to mow down all at once.

When one got close enough to swing he jumped back and transformed his cannon into its morning star form. He swung and caught it in the head, the metal cranium crumbling under the sheer force of the attack and the noise of metal striking metal resounding around the area. The head was obliterated and the robotic body fell to its knees, sparks spraying out like a fountain from where its neck would be. He began swinging at the oncoming automatons shaped like Beowolves.

He swung right and caught one in the chest sending it flying with a large dent in its torso. He swung left and did the same to the next automaton. Suddenly, he started spinning like a tornado and the two automaton Beowolves charging at him were struck and sent flying back with both of them having broken chassis. He looked around, searching for another target when he noticed me standing there, watching.

"Oh, hello Ruby," he greeted as he walked over, shifting his weapon back into its more compact metal backpack form. He slipped it back onto his back and finally made it to where Aeren and I were standing "I suppose Aeren has already asked you about the blacksmith's?"

"Yeah," I answered and he smiled, waiting for my answer. "So when do we get to go?"

"As soon as you are ready," he spoke and I nodded, holding up the duffel bag that I had slung on.

* * *

An Hour Later

Apparently, Mr. Smith had an old car he used to use, but since he was to injured to drive it had broken down and collected dust in an old barn that was on the land. Aeren and him had towed the car back up to the front of the manor onto the road and we fixed it for half an hour, then we drove it into town to spend another half an hour searching for the blacksmith's shop before Aeren suggested using her internal navigation systems.

Several groans and wallowing in shame later we parked along the side of the street where it was legal. Aeren stayed with the car and Mr. Smith was having trouble with getting his gun out so I went in first. However, instead of seeing a large burly man with a blacksmith's apron on behind the counter I saw a snoring Valance. My heartbeat probably skyrocketed because I looked back to see Mr. Smith still trying to get out, probably to stubborn to just take off his weapon and carry it out.

"Ruby?" I turned and saw Valance looking at me, head tilted. "What're you doing here?"

"Oh, Valance. Didn't see you there, I'm just, just-"

There was a loud banging noise as Mr. Smith hit his head on the roof of the car causing him to shout in pain and anger. Aeren looked at him with an emotionless look, but I'm pretty sure her scanners were verifying him as an idiot right now.

"What was that?" she asked out loud and I quickly grabbed her. "Ruby? What're you doing?"

"Oh nothing, just want you to show me the back room, that's all," I nervously laughed and started pushing her into the back room. "So what're you doing here?"

"My dad owns this place. Ruby, are you sure you're fine beca-" I cut her off as I slammed the door the moment Mr. Smith walked in.

"My suggestion of first deactivating the magnetic lock and taking the weapon off to get out was faster," Aeren, I guess gloated and Mr. Smith grumbled something about stupid robot and much faster to get out with the weapon on him already.

"Ruby?" he questioned with a confused gaze as he saw me, "what are you doing behind the counter?"

"Uh..." I trailed off, trying to think of an elaborate lie to use.

"Ruby, if this is a prank I swear to God I'm going to kill you!" Valance shouted in anger and my eyes widened in fear as I realized he heard her.

"Are you hiding someone behind that door?" he asked and I felt my plan fall apart.

"Hey, whoever has this door closed better open up!" an adult man's voice shouted and I quickly let go of the nob as he stepped forward

The new guy had fiery orange hair like the fire in a forge. A long, curly hair on his head that gave him lucious sort of hair with two wolf ears. Then he had a six o'clock shadow of the same color that ran all the way from his sideburns to his chin and back up. He had clover green eyes that sparkled with confidence and pride, but right now they also held anger. He wore a blacksmith's apron on top of his regular clothes. The sleeves of his shirt were pulled back to show his tan skin that had blotches of black and grey, probably ash and soot.

"Who do you think you are!" the newcomer shouted in rage. "Think you can just rob my shop!"

"Ruby?" Valance asked in disbelief as she stared at me. "You were trying to rob us?"

"Valance! No!" I tried to answer, but her expression quickly turned sour.

"Did you save me just to get close to me! Just to rob my family's shop?" she shouted, venting her emotions and I started to tear up a. It felt like being betrayed again, but Mr. Smith spoke before I did.

"Ranulf?"

Valance's dad looked up and saw Mr. Smith, his expression of fury turning into a shocked and confused one.

"Ben?"

Both men stared at each other in shock before Mr. Smith smiled and pulled the man into a hug.

"Ha ha! Ranulf, you old hound, you're alive!"

"Oh God. I'm seeing ghosts!" this guy, Ranulf stated in horror while both Valance and I looked on with confusion.

"You know him?" I asked and Mr. Smith nodded

"This old hound went to Signal and Beacon with me," he laughed heartily, grabbing the ginger haired man in a headlock.

"Let go of me!" the wolf faunus growled and Mr. Smith complied. "Thanks, now tell me why you locked the door?"

"Wasn't me," he responded and looked down at me. "Ruby?"

The whole time I had been watching with confusion. He didn't hate faunas? That's when I realized he asked me what I was doing. My face turned as red as my cloak as all three of them stared at me.

"You don't hate Faunas?" I asked and he nodded, but the. Realization hit him.

"Oh, this is about the conversation from yesterday," he stated, realizing it. "You misunderstood my words Ruby. I do not despise Faunas, I despise the White Fang."

"Oh," I said as I finally understood him, "I'm sorry for locking you guys out."

"It's fine," Valance's dad said and rubbed his hand on my head.

I smoothed out my hair as the adults started talking. Valance came over, just as red as me and we started apologizing to each other.

"Sorry about calling you a liar," Valance apologized, blushing as she did.

i rubbed the back of my head and apologized too, "Yeah, sorry about locking you in the back room."

"Anyway, she needs her weapon repaired," we heard Mr. Smith finish and they looked at me.

I zipped open the duffel bag and showed them Crescent Rose. He seemed to be evaluating it before he answered

"I can do that," the man stated, but Benedict slapped him in the arm.

"You didn't let me finish," he growled with a frown and continued. "But she wants to repair it herself."

"Can she do that?" he asked and I huffed in anger, grabbing his attention.

"I made my sweetheart so I can repair it," I stated with confidence.

"Oh," he replied in understanding, "you must've gone to Signal."

"Uh, yeah, how'd you know?" I asked and he pulled up a large warhammer.

"This is my weapon, forged it in my time at Signal," he explained and transformed it into a shotgun. "Same goes for this guy's weapon."

He moved his hand so that his thumb would point at Mr. Smith who put his hand to his chin as he raised his eyes to look up at the ceiling if he was thinking of a fond memory.

"Yes, those were the glory days," he sighed in joy, but snapped back into reality, "but besides that point, would you be able to show her some tricks in forging?"

"Alright, as long as you pay up," he stated and Mr. Smith handed him some lien.

"Next payment comes when we come back," he stated and the man nodded in agreement.

"I can agree with that," he stated, scratching his 6 o'clock shadow, "Come on now, let's go to the back and take a better look that weapon of yours."

He turned around and headed to a door that he opened, showing a large circular room with an open roof. Inside was a large furnace that was burning bright with a large fire on the inside. It wasn't like an oven sort of furnace with a hole in the front. It was a giant structure that too up the center of the room, large metal wires with blue dust crystals imbedded in them. Around the room were a bunch of tools and weapons set on tables or racks.

"This is the best blacksmith I've ever known." He clasped his hand onto the man's shoulder who chuckled while his cheeks turned rosy red.

"You're making me blush Ben," he laughed and slapped his hand away. "Stop it." He turned to me and moved his hand out for me to shake. "The name's Ranulf, Ranulf O'Dehern."

"Um, hi Ranulf," I sheepishly greeted and shook his hand.

"And this is Benedict Smiethrun or Smith as you say Ben. Say hi to this idiot Valance."

"Hi," Valance sheepishly greeted with a nervous wave and he just smiled warmly at her.

"Well, come on then," he said as he raised his voice to a booming tone. "Let's have a look!"

I put the duffel bag on a table and zipped it open before carefully taking out the shards of Crescent Rose. The whole time Ranulf stared at them before switching his gaze to me for a minute, then going back to the shards.

"Let me guess, Hard Steel?" he asked and I nodded. "Good choice, its in the name. Hard. Very strong metal, capable of cutting through a Grimm's tough hide. However, I'm guessing it broke by being hit with an overwhelming force."

"The blade took a full blow from a mace head," I explained in a depressed voice.

"Explains everything," Ranulf said in a calmer voice, rubbing his chin. "Alright, hand 'em over."

"What?" I asked, confused as he grabbed a metal tray and held it out to me.

"Put the shards on the tray, I'm going to take a look at them so I can figure out how to properly fix 'em. Then, I'm going to teach you how to reforge it, but better."

"Oh..." I said, elongating the single word before trailing off.

I carefully set down the shards down onto the tray and watched them glimmer in the sunlight. He walked over and set them on a table full of different varities of tools. He pulled a magnifying glass up to his face and started peering at a shard, holding it up so he could see it better. He raised up a hand after a moment, waving it at us as if to shoo us away.

"You can go, it'll be a while before I can complete an assessment!" he shouted at us, waving us off with his hand. "Valance, go spend some time with Ben and his little friend, maybe you can make some friends."

"Dad!" she snapped in annoyance, her cheeks red. "I have friends."

"Come on kid," Mr. Smith said and patted her on the back while laughing heartily. "I'll take you to Henry's bakery. Then we'll head on back to the manor."

"Alright," Valance huffed in defeat and followed us out of the shop. We walked down a street before turning a corner and coming to the same bakery as yesterday. Valance finally decided to speak after we had gotten our cookies. "So, you're Ruby Rose?" she asked and I nodded, making her smile in response. "That is so cool! They said you're the youngest person to ever get into Beacon!"

"Uh, yeah," I said, sheepishly smiling as she squealed in joy.

"So why're you here?" she asked. "Are you on a mission? A top secret mission?" Immediately, some of the memories from before started seaping back into my head, but I started pushing them back.

_It's been three days Ruby, get a hold of yourself_

"Uh, hello?" Valance said and I snapped back into reality as she waved her hand in front of me.

"Sorry," I apologized, "I just don't want to talk about it."

"Oh, I see," she replied with a smirk. "Top secret, knew it."

"I wouldn't push the subject," we heard and looked up at Mr. Smith who was still leading us. Probably back to the manor so Aeren could take care of us while he did something. "She's a bit sensitive," he stated and I blushed while Valance looked between us. "As am I."

"Are you guys like related?"

Immediately, I blinked and stared at Valance, but before I could say something I noticed Valance's eyes widening. I looked at where she was looking and saw Benedict tensed up, completely straightened as if a shock had gone through him.

"No, no we're not," he responded coldly and we both looked at each other. Valance's clover green eyes staring into my silver ones as we exchanged a look of confusion.

We were silent for most of the walk back, but I decided to talk again. Well, whisper to Valance actually.

"Hey," I whispered and she leaned over to me.

"Yeah?" she asked as she got closer. We were on the dirt road now, the tracks from the car that Aeren drove still fresh on the hard ground of dirt.

"Why did he get so sensitive about that whole related thing?" I asked and she shrugged. Either he knew something or something happened that he didn't want us to know.

"I dunno, I do know he had a kid though, but my dad said she was blonde, not like your black hair."

"Oh, well what happened to your dad? Why isn't he out on missions and stuff?"

"Don't know, but neither of them were on the same team," she replied and I raised an eyebrow in confusion. Why wouldn't they be on the same team? Well, actually Jaune and I are friends and we aren't on the same team. So it's probably possible.

"Really? I thought they'd be on the same team."

"Yeah me too, but I saw a picture of my dad's team. His was called Qrow."

"Qrow?" I asked, my eyes widening in shock.

"Yeah, his leader was some skinny guy with a scythe like yours.

"That's my uncle!" I cheered and this time her eyes widened in shock.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

We smiled and high fived in joy.

"This is the restart of a beautiful friendship," Valance stated as she wrapped an arm around my shoulders and held up her hand as we looked up into the sky.

Then, we heard a snap and a creak as the doors to the manor opened. Benedict walked inside as we stood there, a bit shocked that we hadn't noticed that we arrived.

"Oh, we're here," I said and we walked inside. Aeren was there when we set foot through the threshold, holding a platter of little flat bakery treats. "Hey Aeren," I greeted, waving my hand in greeting, but then I noticed the platter of treats. "Hey, what's that?"

"Crumpets," she answered, holding them up to us, "a grittle cake treat Master Smith finds quite enjoyable and delicious."

"Try one!" we heard Mr. Smith's voice shout from somewhere else in the manor.

Valance was the grabbed one without hesitation, probably because she's been here before and eaten one of these before me. I cautiously took one myself and held it up to my eyes. It was a flat pancake sort of thing, but the size of a biscuit. There were a lot of little pores in it and it was colored a light brown like a bakery good is suppose to be. I could feel butter on my fingers and I saw the little yellow square of butter on top of the crumpet, mostly melted. We put it in our mouth and bit down. Immediately, the familiar taste of a bakery good filled my mouth, but it was also new because I could taste the butter in my mouth and the mix of flavor was awesome.

"Ts s mzing," I said in pure bliss as I savored the taste.

"I cannot understand your speechassume you enjoy my cooking?" Aeren asked and I nodded furiously in response. She gave a smile that was a bit creepy, probably because she was a robot. Aeren turned and walked to the kitchen after I had gobbled up most of the crumpets. Valance had gotten a small bit of it, but since I was Ruby Rose, I had eaten most of the baked goods.

"Is eating everything your semblance?" Valance asked as we walked down a hall in the manor, the wolf faunas leading me somewhere.

"No, it's speed," I said and activated it, running all the way down to the end of the hall in a second or two.

"Oh," she said from down the hall and I laughed as she had to run to me. When she got to me I started leading, but she put her hand on my shoulder and pushed me behind her. "No, I know where I'm going," she stated confidently while I pouted.

"Fine," I responded and she started leading again, but this time I asked. "Where are we going anyways?"

"The living room."

"The living room?"

"Yeah, you never been there?"

"No, I just got here yesterday."

"Oh, right," she said, blushing in embarrassment.

I followed her into a large room and immediately my eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. Set in glass cases or on racks, some on plaques, or others erect on a manequin were trophies of all kinds. Weapons ranging from the common dust pistols to custom weapons that were probably capable of a lot damage, armor used by bandits and knights, all of them set in cases or on manequins, and trophies from creatures of Grimm like hides, claws, teeth, fangs, tusks, feathers, stingers, and even some Grimm heads were set in a section all their own.

"I know right," Valance commented and I smiled wide.

"This is amazing!" I shouted as I ran around the room at the speed of a dust shot. I looked at every case, stared at every weapon. There were axes and swords, hammers and clubs, morning stars and maces, and some shields. I looked at a rack holding the first generation of dust rifles, long half wooden half metal rifles that would be filled with dust capsules that would be used as bullets unlike today's models that turned the dust into energy and shot them. "I've never seen anything like this! It's like a museum for weapons!"

"Yes, my personal trophy room," we heard and looked over to see Mr. Smith standing in the doorway behind Valance. He chuckled as he walked over and picked up a silver bow. It was intricately made, carvings engraved into the metal and a semi-sepherical sort of metal thing that had a part of it missing, probably so that it could be used as the aiming device. He had on a sad smile as he pulled back the string a bit. Then, he jerked his hand back, making the handle snap out and become perpendicular to the bow itself. The sides of the bow shifted so that both sides met and become a blade, then the handle returned to its original form, creating a cutlass sort of weapon.

"Whoa," Valance and I said in awe at the weapon.

"Is that yours?" I asked and he shook his head to answer me.

"It belonged to a friend," he answered and transformed it back into its bow form.

"Oh," I said as he carefully sat it down. He fell into a chair and sighed in what seemed to be frustration and stress. "You alright?"

"Yeah, just old memories rushing into my head, painful memories," he answered, sliding his hands down his face as if to wipe off the memories. His expression of frustration quickly changed and he looked at me directly. "So, you going to answer my question?"

"What?" I asked, tilting my head in confusion.

"My question, why'd you leave Beacon and come here?" he asked and Valance looked over at me while I looked down. "If you still want to keep it to yourself, it is alright."

"I'm sorry, I just... I just can't," I apologized, rubbing my arm nervously.

He nodded solemnly and I looked down in shame. I started wondering if he was going to get angry or disappointed in me, but he just looked up with that sympathetic look i was getting to often.

"Hey," I heard as Valance nudged me with her elbow. "I'm guessing not a top secret thing?"

"No," I replied and she laughed, just laughed like I hadn't just denied her the truth.

"It's alright if you don't want to tell us. I know I'd keep it a secret."

"But you're going to keep asking?"

"Yep," she stated, smiling proudly at what she said.

I smiled back, my happy mood reassertion thanks to my faunal friend. We started chatting, changing the topic.

Valance grabbed my arm and started to drag me out of the room, excitedly chattering about a boys and trying different clothes. However, I managed to wring my arm out of her grasp so I could look at Mr. Smith.

"Mr. Smith?" I asked and he turned to look at me, an eyebrow raised.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering. I saw you fighting today and I wanted to know if you could help me... You know, get stronger and stuff so I know something's when I head back to Beacon," I asked while nervously playing with the rim of my cloak,

_If I ever do go back_

He chuckled as he moved to kneel down in front of me, lowering himself down until we were face to face. It was then that I noticed he was at least two feet taller than me.

"If that is what you so choose. I would be honored to train you," he replied with his gentle voice and a warm smile.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," I repeated happily and joyfully a bunch of times and left with Valance so we could find Aeren to get a party started. We ran back into the foyer and found the android, but also Ranulf. "Oh, hi Mr. O'Dehern."

"Hello Ruby," he greeted as he saw us. "Come on Valance, time to go home." He gestured for his daughter to follow him out the door which we saw had a night sky outside, but she pouted.

"Dad," she whined and he sighed in frustration, "can I pleeeeeeease stay?" She gave a seriously cute puppy dog face, probably because she was a wolf faunas.

"I used to use that face on my parents Valance, it won't work on me," he sighed again and she pouted even more. "Come on girl, daylights running out. In fact it's already out." She huffed in anger and went to go walk outside while her father looked at the hall we came from.

"Are you expecting something sir?" Aeren asked, confused as to why he was staring.

"No Aeren," he answered, but before he could turn, he stopped himself and looked back. "Actually, yes I am."

"What?" Aeren and I asked at the same time.

"Just Ben, this is probably the first time since he's come out of hiding," he sighed and crossed his arms. "Just makes you wonder what he's been up to for the last couple of years."

"Oh, he was trying to keeps poison from killing him, but I just recently healed him with a cure I helped him find so that's why he came out of hiding."

"Really?" he asked, tilting his head in wonder. I nodded in response, crossing my arms as I smugly smiled. "But wait, do you know what happened to him before? I mean when he was a Hunter."

"I know a lot of things about that time. My team and I along with him and his team. We had lots of fun, but even then he still left and I never knew why," he said while still crossing his arms.

"He said he lost a teammate and because of that everyone turned on him, them they tried to kill him."

"What?" The wolf fauna gasped in shock. "That's what actually happened?" I nodded and he growled like the half wolf he was. "That would explain his personality after the events of her death."

"Personality?"

"Yeah, surely you've seen it. He's happy one second, then all gentle giant another," he replied and I nodded. "That's his memories coming out. We were hunters once and we saw things, things we don't want to remember. He'll act like his happy, childish self to hide the pain, but if he when his gentle giant side comes out you just feel better knowing that there's someone who cares. Don't get fooled though, I've seen his gentle giant side, it ain't very gentle in combat."

"Oh," was my only response as I stared down the hall too. For a moment we just stood there, but eventually Ranulf turned and left.

"Good night Ruby," Valance waved as they left and I waved back. Aeren closed the doors and began walking towards the room Mr. Smith was in. I started walking up the stairs to the second floor where my room was.

I fell onto the bed after getting in my pajamas. The only thing I could think of before I fell into the darkness of sleep was, "Did I really heal more than those outside scars?"

* * *

Jaune POV

I was in love with Ruby Rose, I think. Everytime I thought of her, boom! My cheeks turned rosy red, my heart flutters, and I feel butterflies in my stomach. I sighed and fell onto my bed, it's been another day since she ran and we still haven't found a sign of her.

From what we managed to find was that she had been dragged off by Beowolves, but when we found the Grimm, they were already dead and decomposing, but there was no sign of Ruby's body so we held some hope. We'll most of us did, Weiss and Pyrrah already accepted the hard truth of reality, but the rest of us wanted to live in fantasy land forever if it meant having hope.

"Jaune?" Pyrrah asked and I looked over at her.

"Yeah Pyrrah?" I asked back, drowsiness threatening to take me down like Cardin's mace. She tilted her head a bit, her scarlet ponytail sliding across her shoulder as she stared at me.

"Are you alright?" she asked and I groaned as I fell back on my bed.

"I pretty much left my best-friend to die," I said and she rolled her eyes at me.

"Jaune, remember why you're training with me," she said and walked over to my bed, sitting down on the edge. Her hand fell on my lap, kinda near my man parts so I shifted a bit so it wasn't that close and she looked me in the eye with that warrior's glint in them. "You need to be strong, you need to stand strong. You have a team to back you up."

I started to think about it, then I started thinking about all of it and finally decided she was right. Right when I was going to get up I noticed her face really close to mine, lips puckered so I jumped back.

She was surprised, but got over it quickly, however, she looked disappointed for some reason.

"You're right Pyrrah," I replied and got up so I was sitting in bed. Suddenly, the door opened and Prof. Ozpin walked in.

"Professor," Pyrrah gasped and stood up while I scrambled to do the same. Ren looked over and got out of bed while also flicking Nora in the forehead making her snap her eyes open. The hyper girl jumped out of bed, literally jumped out of bed and landed on her feat, her hand up to her head in a salute.

"Hello Team JNPR," he greeted and we greeted him. "I have news that would most likely interest you."

"What's that?" I asked and he pulled out a piece of paper.

"With the break in, in Team RWBY's dorm room, I am issuing a mission to find the thief and I believe you would be more than pleased to take it." We all cracked a smile and nodded. "Very good, you may return to bed now."

we complied as he left the room, slipping under the covers. I swear I saw Pyrrha glaring at the door, but shrugged it off.

"I'll rescue you Ruby," I murmured before I fell asleep, "I promise."

With that I started dreaming of me carrying Ruby like a knight carrying a princess.

* * *

**Done**

**I hope you liked this chapter**

**I hope you like the story**

**So keep up with the reviews**

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**See ya,  
Lord Revan Flame**


	5. Meet Team AHRA

**Hello viewers!**

**So here's a new chapter showing Ruby meeting the town's local team**

**Team AHRA (Aura)**

**So I hope you love this**

**Please Note- I wrote this entire chapter on my phone because my old computer shorted out, three days of holding up a smart phone and typing while auto-correct annoyed the hell out of me**

**Let's begin**

* * *

Ruby POV

One Week Later

"I'm going to go out! " I shouted at Mr. Smith as he sat in the living room.

I stood in the doorway to the living room as he sat in a chair, reading something on his scroll.

"Okay, use my training if you need to fight! " he shouted and I rolled my eyes as I closed the door.

I left the manor, walking by the road into town. I started doing this often, a new way of exercising Mr. Smith called it and I just laughed at him. I met up with Valance in town, the both of us walking around and smelling the roses.

"What about this one?" Valance asked as she pointed at a fruit on a stand.

I smelled it and wrinkled my nose as I drew myself back.

"Nah, smells expired," I said and she stuck out her tongue.

"There is no way you can smell better than me, I am a wolf faunas," she said in an obnoxious voice and I gave her a 'really' look.

We kept walking around, just being pals. Ever since I got here, the harassment let up on the faunas in Magnus. It did that because of me, of course because after the first day or two of me cleaning up the streets and the two other days of people trying to get me.

It almost felt like Beacon with the bullying on me then, but one day when I was cornered by a bunch of guys, Mr. O'Dehern showed up with his weapon and scared them off. Ever since that I became a town hero for the Faunas, it was pretty nice.

"Oh, hey Ruby?" Valance chipped and I looked over at her as she pointed to a large building.

"Yeah?" I asked in curiosity and confusion.

"Have you been to the Hunter's Outpost here?"

"Hunter's Outpost?" I asked in confusion and she giggled as I tilted my head.

"Yeah, that's where the Hunters here are based."

"There are Hunters here?"

She gasped at me in shock before grabbing my hand, dragging me to the large building.

It was a large building built out of stone, wood, and the occasional metal parts. Windows were placed on the sides as it sat in town square, protected by a large brick wall around it. It was two stories with a tower in the back reaching about four stories tall.

My Faunas friend rapped on the metal door that sat at the entrance and a lot of loud noises could be heard from the other side.

"I'm comin'! Hold your horses!" a voice shouted, an accent similar to Valance's dad in it as the owner spoke in annoyance.

A loud squeaking and creaking noise could be heard as the door was opened revealing a tall, thin man wearing a bright green trench coat over steel grey armor. A pair of custom goggles were set on his head, made of metal and having no bridge to connect the red tinted lens so that only one lens could go down if wanted. More armor was shown on his forearm where steel grey gauntlets were as well as the same color armored greaves he wore.

"Who the hell wants u-" he stopped when he saw Valance and I standing there. "Oh, it's jus' you."

All the anger in his voice was gone, but the annoyance was still there.

"Who's there Aiden?" a gruff voice from within the outpost shouted.

"Just Valance and some squirt," the man shouted back and my face turned red with anger.

"Hey!" I shouted, venting one of my emotion.

"What? You are short."

I swear my eye was twitching by this point, but Valance either didn't notice or just didn't want to say anything.

"Come on, get in here," the green clad guy groaned and we stepped in, following him inside the outpost.

We walked down a short hallway before coming to a rather large, circular room probably used for mission briefing or meetings, but at the moment was being used as another Hunter's television.

He was a big guy, not big as in muscle, I mean big as in gut. He seemed kinda overweight, but that didn't seem to matter to him as he was wearing bulky, heavy armor colored camo green. He had a dark brown beard and a military buzz cut barely visible underneath his standard infantry bucket helmet.

"Oh! He's out," the big guy laughed out loud, saying the second part with a little less enthusiasm as he watched some guy get disqualified from some kind of competition.

"Oi! Turn off that off and give the kid's friend a tour!" the guy who led us in shouted in annoyance, making his point by throwing a beer bottle at the other Hunter.

It shattered on the metal helmet the man wore, but it was enough to spur him into action.

"Why do I got to do it?" he whined and the green clad man scoffed at him.

"Cause, I'm busy taking inventory of our ammunition, Ryuu's doing his meditation, and the boss is taking a nap! Now get your fat arse off that seat and give these kiddies a tour!"

"Fine, fine, but you don't gotta be so mean about it. And stop saying 'arse', sounds weird," the big guy groaned making us stifle some giggles.

"Well I'm sorry that you can't handle my accent! Now piss off and give 'em a tour!" the man practically screamed before slamming shut a door to what looked like a storage room.

"Alright, alright," the big guy said, waving his arm in a sarcastic goodbye wave. Lighting a cigarette and sticking it in his mouth, he got up and puffed a cloud of smoke. "Sorry for Aiden's potty mouth, just angry I waste most of his ammo."

"Waste ammo?" I asked and he nodded as he walked over to us, his battle scarred, camo green armor clanking around.

"Yeah, guy hates it when we miss our shots. Loves to conserve ammo."

"Oh," I replied as we began following him. "So where's the rest of your team?"

"Well Aiden's in our ammo storage, Ryuu's meditating in his garden, and the big boss is taking a nap."

"Big boss?" I questioned while Valance just laughed.

"Yeah, don't wanna wake the boss up," he explained as we came to a long, wide hallway with four rooms, two on either side with a fifth door at the very end of the hall. "Rooms are our quarters, fifth door is the tower door. "

"Cool," Valance and I said and he laughed as he held his cigarette in between two fingers.

He led us around the place, showing us different rooms and areas of the outpost. He showed us the kitchen, the bathrooms, the garage, the storage area, and other places.

"Hey Ryuu!" our guide, a guy called Herold shouted at a thin man clad in blue samurai armor.

"I am busy, Herold," he spoke in a strange accent which cut off words and elongated some ends. **(Japanese accent. I think)**

"Come on over here and meet our guests!"

"Who our are guests?" he asked as he turned, his crossed legs raising as he got up to look behind him at us.

"Valance and her new friend," Herold answered as the man walked over.

This guy, Ryuu was a little above average height, a muscular body covered in his ultramarine blue colored samurai armor with golden rimming. He had a tannish skin with a thin, golden brown beard and hair was shaved on the sides of his head, leaving a wide stripe of hair with a braided ponytail sort of thing.

"Ah, Valance. I was unable to thank your father when he repaired my blades," Ryuu spoke, his annoyed voice now gentle and kind like Mr. Smith's, but it wasn't low like him.

"It's okay sir," she said and he smiled as he grabbed a samurai helmet from a table and set it on his head, completing his armor set.

"Who is your friend?" the samurai asked, his accent kinda making the 'd' in friend fade.

"Ruby Rose," I introduced and the two Hunters smiled.

"A precious red gem. And a delicate flower. A beautiful name," Ryuu said fluently in a poetic voice.

"What the hell was that?" Herold asked, raising an eyebrow in a confused expression.

"A haiku," the samurai answered, his voice full of annoyance at the big guy's ignorance.

"Cut it out before I drop you," Herold threatened, grabbing the samurai by his chest plate, bringing their faces close together.

In a single second, Ryuu had two samurai sword up against Herold's neck, ready to decapitate him.

"Try it, I dare you," he threatened back, both of them glaring at each other.

Suddenly, they both laughed as he pulled the swords away.

"Like you could take me Mr. Poems."

"Haikus!"

Before Herold could even joke some more, the door opened and Aiden stuck his head in.

"We got Grimm!" the green clad man shouted and the samurai put his swords back into his sheathes as Herold rushed out of the room.

"Where?" Ryuu questioned as we followed them down the hall.

"Near the town, just off of the main road. Airship got hit by a Nevermore and crashed, everyone survived, but they saw a group of Ursi closing in on them."

"I got my lady!" Herold shouted as he ran down to us from up the hall hold a massive minigun with eighteen barrel, six tied together in three bundles.

"Lady?" we asked and Aiden sighed in anger.

"It's what he calls his big gun," the green clad Hunter explained while pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Now you two should start running home because we're going drop some Grimm. Come on boys!" Herold shouted with enthusiasm.

"What about Art?" Ryuu asked and I tilted my head.

"Art's the leader," Valance whispered to me as an answer and I mouthed an 'o'.

"Art's asleep, big boss'll never know," Aiden said in an evil kind of tone.

"Alright, we don't tell Art about the Grimm fight. Just get moving!" Herold shouted and the three Hunters ran out of the outpost, us following.

Packing into a large military jeep with added armor plating on it, they drove off. However, they did not notice us slip into the back of it, hiding under a tarp. After a long and bumpy ride the jeep stopped. We waited a couple minutes to get up, but when we did, we had to duck to avoid a sharp pointed feather that flew over us.

"Come here birdy!" Herold shouted as he fired his massive minigun, the sound like a large fan as a hail of bullets came flying up at the Nevermore above. Lines of yellow and orange connected with the Nevermore and shredded it's feathers.

The avian Grimm let out a loud screech before it flapped it's wings at us, sending a flurry of feathers headed for us, we'll more for the Hunter. Before one of the feathers could hit Herold, however, a blue samurai jumped onto him, and then above him with his samurai sword held high to slice the feather in half, straight up the middle.

The Nevermore screeched again before flying off, but as it did an Ursa came charging out of the forest with Aiden holding onto its bone plating. He pulled down a blaster pistol to its head and fired a single, precise shot in between its bone plates, sending a round into its brain.

"That was fun," Herold simply said, puffing another cloud of smoke as he pulled the cigar from his mouth.

"Yeah, well you best pull up your big gun, we've got another wave coming!" Aiden shouted as he pulled up his twin blaster pistols.

There was a loud scream and we saw a small family, a mom and dad with a little girl running from a group of Ursa.

"Help !" the parents screamed and the Hunter's rushed into action.

Quickly, Aiden shot several bullets that killed some of the Ursi with deadly precision. Ryuu jumped over the family and impaled his swords into an Ursa before sliding one out of the crop se and throwing it at another, impaling its head.

Suddenly, one of the Ursa pounced on the family, leaping into the air in order to crush them, I didn't let that happen though.

Instinct kicked in from combat class and I fired Crescent Rose after subconsciously pulling it out from behind me. The high impact shot blew up the Grimm's head and the force of the shot slowed it down so it landed inches behind the family, dead.

"What the? Are those the kids!" Herold shouted as he saw us.

"What do ya- What in the name of-"

Aiden was cut off twice as he stuttered in anger as he saw us.

"There is no time to berate!" Ryuu said as he ran over to us. "Stay back. Stay safe."

"Hey, I'm a huntress in training, I can handle myself!" I shouted, cocking my sweetheart.

To emphasize is shot an Ursa that came running at the two Hunters near the forest.

"Wow, kids a better shot than you," Herold teased Aiden and he scowled.

"Don't matter, just means more firepower!" the green clad Hunter stated as he started shooting again. "Now shoot!"

"Hey, Art said I was temporary leader when something like this happens, " Herold whined and Aiden scoffed.

"Well I'm sorry, but I'm more qualified!"

"No your not," the big guy stated simply and they pointed their guns at each other.

"Hey!" a voice rang out and we turned to see a woman standing there, clad in skinny jeans and a hoodie.

"Oh boy, big boss is up," Herold grumbled as the woman walked over.

"Big boss? That's Art?" I asked and Valance noddes.

"Art, short for Arthelle," my faunas friend explained as the woman approached.

"One, I wake up from my nap to find an empty outpost, Two, I figure out you guys left me, and Three, Herold's leader when I'm not here!"

Her tan face was red now, teeth grit and baring as she glared at the three men. She had long blonde hair and deep blue eyes. She wore skinny jeans that clung to her legs and a black hoodie with moon white armor pads on her shoulders, sides, elbows, and pearl what vambraces and the same went for a chest plate she wore.

"S-sorry, ma'am," Aiden nervously responded as she put a hand on her hip.

"Um, guys," we heard and saw Valance pointing at the Nevermore heading our way, this time with a small flock of its kind.

"Ah crap," I heard Arthelle say and I swear it sou did familiar somehow. "Aiden, Herold fire everything! Ryuu, let's get everyone to safety."

The samurai nodded and started shouting at the crowd of the airship crash survivors to make their way back to the city.

"Come on you oaf, let's drop 'em!" Aiden shouted with glee as both Hunters started shooting.

"Hey kids!" we heard and saw Arthelle gesturing for us to follow her.

We quickly complied as she led the crowd back to Magnus. People were screaming as the Nevermores swooped down at us occasionally or shot a dozen feathers at us, but Herold and Aiden were quick to repel them with their gunfire.

"Help!" I heard and saw a teenage girl screaming and crying as a Nevermore swooped down at her.

In an instant I was firing shot after shot at the avian Grimm, my high impact shots merely tickling its tough hide of pitch black feathers. I looked around and saw a really big tree nearby, getting a crazy idea.

I ran straight for it, then up it as I scaled the tree for my plan. Soon I was at a branch high up and I ran across it before jumping off and impaling my sweetheart in the Nevermore. It screeched loudly in pain as it veered off course to try and get me off while black blood sputtered and spurt from the wound I had inflicted, dousing me in its blood.

I clung to my weapon, using it as a branch to hang on to s's to not fall off of it. I quickly got another idea as it made a dive. I jumped off the Nevermore, pulling my weapon with me. As I free fell I saw it flying back at me like I anticipated.

I used a move I had learned while fighting Mr. Smith, shooting Crescent Rose so it propelled me up and just as the Nevermore passed me I fired again, twirling vertically as the blade slid underneath its neck. I fired again and suddenly I was in a cloud of rose petals as I fell.

I saw the body of the Nevermore tumbling with me down wars while he the head was a little bit above me. Suddenly, a body collided with mine mere seconds before I could hit the ground and I looked up to see Arthelle tanning over me.

"Nice moves," she complimented and helped me up.

"Thanks," I replied, blushing front eh attention.

"Arthelle! " Ryuu cried out as a Nevermore swooped down at us.

Before I could pull up Crescent Rose, Art grabbed a handle in a sheathe and pulled out a longsword. I could tell it was expertly crafted and made for Grimm slaying. The blade was intricately designed, using curves and corners while the hilt was gold and standard.

She swung and the blade slid through the feathers and through the giant flying Grimm's skin, cutting open its chest. With a loud screech it fell to the ground and died. Quickly, she transformed the longsword, the blade opening up and clamping together underneath a rifle barrel s's the hilt turned into a grip with a trigger.

She started firing a dozen shots and I followed her lead, both of us attacking another Nevermore.

We kept up the attack as we ran with the crowd, keeping up the defense as we made our way into town. A single Nevermore broke through our defense and dived for the crowd, but several mortar shots hit it, sending it flying down a bit more angle to where it dug a small grave for itself in the dirt.

We all turned to see a man in a black coat holding a heavy cannon up.

"Mr. Smith!" I cried out in joy as he charged forward, turning his cannon into its morning star form as he leaped into the air.

He let out a battle cry, his voice carrying courage and rage as a Nevermore struck him head on. The dust blades on his morning star pierced through the feathers and kept him on the avian Grimm as he rode it.

He struck it over the head and jumped off, rolling across the ground as it crashed. It slowly rose back up, flapping its wings as it flew up a couple feet off the ground.

"Come on!" Mr. Smith roared as he twirled the morning star in his right hand.

It flew at him again, but right before the beak pierced his chest, he swung and struck it across the head again. It flew off course and crashed again. Mr. Smith's foot stomped onto his head and he transformed his weapon back into its cannon form, firing a dozen dust shots into its head.

"Behind you!" he shouted and we turned in time to see a Nevermore swooped for us. Arthelle pulled me down and Ryuu jumped on top of the Grimm, decapitation it and executing the creature.

"That's all of them," Herold stated with a smirk.

"I suggest we get the survivors to Magnus before celebrating," Ryuu reasoned and we all nodded in agreement.

* * *

Several Hours Later

"Woo hoo!" Arthelle, leader of Team AHRA shouted as she waved around a cup full of soda.

"I think you need to slow down your soda intake boss," Herold suggested, but she just scoffed.

"Slow down my cute little butt!" she cheekily said, cheeks not even growing red while everyone's did.

"I wouldn't mind having that," Aiden laughed, but she just gave him a 'really' look.

"I don't think any fine woman like me would sleep with you," she stated and everyone burst out laughing as he grumbled in anger.

"So Art, I want to introduce you to my friend, Ruby! " Valance said, introducing me to the Huntress.

Before I could even speak my face was in her bosom which, thankfully, was not as big as Yang's chest so I didn't suffocate.

"You are so adorable!" she squealed with happiness.

"I believe the soda has intoxicated her," Ryuu said, but Herold nudged him with his shoulders.

"You don't get drunk off a soda," the heavy gunner stated while puffing another smoke, "Of course we're talking about Arthelle Arc."

"Wait, Arc!" I shouted in shock. "Like Jaune Arc?"

"You know Jaune?" she asked, all that happy and intoxicated-like nature gone. "You know my little brother?"

"Uh, yeah. We went to Beacon together, "I said and she gsped.

"Your Ruby Rose, or Crater Face, I guess that's a nickname?" she sheepishly said making me turn red with anger. "Wait, are you his... well, girlfriend? "

The red rage turned rosy red as I blushed, my eyes wide with surprise.

"N-no! No no no no!" I replied with as much force as I could put into it.

"Oh, okay. I thought he got a girlfriend before I got a boyfriend," she laughed and I tilted my head. "Oh, sorry. I don't think we've all formerly met."

She got up, standing straight up as she bowed.

"Arthelle Arc, eldest child of the Arc family," she proudly stated with her hands on her hips.

Art was like a taller, hotter, female Jaune, but also a lot crazier and not as naive.

"Name's Herold Lexingfors, been shooting up Grimm since age seven, " the team's big gunner stated with a grin.

"Ryuu Himura, once a man who despised the Faunas, but no more," the samurai introduced with his gentle and accented voice.

"Aiden Hereln, best shot at Beacon Academy and now on Team AHRA," the last member stated while twirling one of his blaster pistols in his hand.

"So Ruby, what do you mean by 'went to Beacon'? Did Jaune drop out?" Art asked, but I shook my head making her sigh in relief.

"No, no he didn't, " I quickly answered and she smiled, but then it dropped into a from as something clicked in her head.

"Wait, did you drop out?"

"Well..." I trailed off, burning red now out of embarrassment.

"Oh, so you're not on a secret mission," Valance said while tilting her head in curiosity.

"We're Hunters, Valance, not secret agents," Art corrected and the wolf faunas blushed out of embarrassment like me.

"So, you're the only girl on the team?" I asked and Art nodded while all the guys groaned.

"Yeah, everyone here follows the alpha female," she stated proudly.

"Her childish nature somewhat hinders our assignments at times," Ryuu remarked and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"I dunno, her sword skills and my heavy gunning made a pretty good team back during our trial run," Herold laughed and high five his leader/partner.

"So did my precision and Ryuu's samurai swordsmanship, " Aiden stated while waving around his own cup of soda.

"At least I can seduce," Art countered making him scowl.

"However, self grooming and selfish nature cause much chaos," Ryuu spoke up earning him a punch in the face from Herold.

"I don't appreciate people bagging on the boss."

"And I do not appreciate untrustworthy teammates," the samurai stated angrily as he placed both of his swords underneath his neck.

"Ooh, I've been waiting for the moment to take over while everyone's fighting," Aiden cackled and as all this happened I noticed Arthelle smacking her forehead with her hand.

"I've been team leader for almost eight years and still everyone here thinks a kid like me couldn't lead," I heard Art murmur at me. "Showed them all at graduation. Mom and dad were so proud."

I listened in on the argument between the guys and I heard their voices change to Weiss, Pyrrha, and Cardin.

"Nothing, but a child, no honor in her childish antics."

"A stupid, lil' girl that gets drunk off a soda!"

"Weak little girl."

I started tearing up, the memories resurfacing as they argued. Art seemed to notice because her voice resounded throughout the main hub and they stopped and watched me cry.

"Hey, hey. Sorry kid, didn't mean to bring up family matters," Herold apologized, but I just kept crying my eyes out.

"It is alright little rose, we meant no harm," Ryuu assured with a kind voice.

"No! No it's not!" I practically screamed in anger and frustration. "Everyone hates me, they tried to kill , and now I can't go back!"

Everyone was stunned by my outburst and the first to do anything was Art. Her arms wrapped around me as I curled my cloak around me as I cried out my emotions like Mr. Smith said. I started explaining everything to them and they just nodded with wide eyes full of disbelief.

"They tried to kill you?" the leader asked and I nodded. "What about Ozpin! Does he know?"

"No, they tried to murder me on our first mission. Most of the first years," I explained and everyone nodded.

"That's messed up," Herold said as he put out his cigar and flicked it out of his hand into the trash can.

"No honor among these blooming flowers. They deserve to wilt for this act of hate and jealousy," Ryuu growled with obvious distaste for Beacon's newest students.

"I'm up for shooting up the school. Only if I can spray paint Goodwitch's classroom," Aiden shouted up his agreement.

"No, no," I quickly said, "my sister and some of my friends didn't do that. Everyone else did. They don't deserve whatever you'll do."

"We're not turning into psychopaths, murderers, serial killers, or terrorists. We're Hunters and they're the next generation along with- Wait, what about Jaune?" Arthelle asked, her eyes widening as she realized she hadn't asked about him yet.

"Oh, he got knocked out by his partner, " I spoke and she sighed in relief.

"Oh thank God, I thought he was a part of all that stuff," she said with a sad smile. "So what are you really doing here?"

"Well I was found by Mr. Smith's android, she healed me and brought me ask to Metastract Manor where I met him. I've been training with him to get stronger and better so I could go back to Beacon and show them I'm not just a child."

"An honorable cause and a just one. I approve of the little rose's actions, the samurai approved and everyone nodded.

"C-could you guys not tell Mr. Smith about this. I don't want him to pity me as much as he already does. I want him to make me stronger, not weaker or anything."

"I am afraid that course of action is unavailable, " we all heard and looked to see a man in a black coat leaning against the entrance to the main hub. "So that is your story my little friend?"

"Y-yes sir," I stuttered out of fear and he sighed in what looked like anger and frustration.

"You forget that I faced similar fate at the hands of my brethren," he stated plainly in his gentle voice, now hinted with traces of anger. "I have walked a long path shrouded in shadows, alone for so very long. Until you came along, weeping on the side of the path and just got up to follow mw, healing me I healed as I healed you. If you think I shall abandon you, Ruby Rose, you Have learned nothing from the past week."

"S-sorry, " I apologized and he smiled, wiping a tear from my porcelain doll face.

"If they believe that they can get away with murder, let us show them the fault in their actions," he spoke and everyone shouted their agreements.

I beamed with a smile as the party restarted, now celebrating the official start of my training from Mr. Smith.

* * *

Third Person POV

Ozpin was never one to leave Beacon during the school semesters unless certain... matters came up. Currently he was within the Emerald Forest as he met up with his hired hand. Far from official school grounds, at the other side of the vast forest that occupied a part of the academy grounds he stood as a large ship floated above.

Eventually a smaller ship, a sleeker, more versatile form of a Bullhead floated down to him. The bottom of it opened up as a large man dropped down, losing his grip on the handle bar above him on purpose as to drop down and meet his employer.

"Ah, Deadlock, an honor," Ozpin spoke, his voice betraying his words as they leaked a bit of venom.

"No need to hide your distaste professor. I know of your hatred for me," the bounty hunter, clad in his usual dark steel armor stated with a scowl.

"Very well, now I assume you already know why I've brought you here?"

"Yes professor and no, I have not yet discovered your thief. However, I am close, your thief was very talented, but they were also very idiotic. With my superior hunting skills, I have tracked them down to a nearby town known as Magnus. I plan on hunting them down in several days after I refuel and organize a plan."

"Then our business is already over with," Ozpin replied and turning to leave, but stopped before Deadlock could climb into his gunship. "Deadlock, you never told me of how you became this. How did you turn into a bounty hunter?"

The bounty hunter stopped and turned to look at him, emerald green eyes locking with poisonous green optics. His scowl was set on his face as Deadlock began to answer.

"Every land I have traveled, at every town or city of any region or nation, even in the small native villages I always see ignorance. Everywhere I go, I see them, Human or Faunas believing they are the center of the universe."

Ozpin kept his eyes locked on him as an unnatural cold began creeping up his skin and making goosebumps appear.

"We have no clue to what lies beyond," he finished and climbed into the gunship before taking off.

Ozpin began making his way back to Beacon, fingers pressed against the bridge of his nose as he attempted to quell the headache forming from all the thoughts running through his head. Meanwhile, back at the dorms of Team RWBY and JNPR, an argument was ongoing as Yang and Roxanne shouted at each other.

Pyrrha and Weiss secretly smirked everytime they heard a remark on Ruby's weakness and how unfit she was to lead an actual team. Blake and everyone else laughed and smiled everytime Ruby was used as a counter against Roxanne's declarations.

As the two teams continued their feud, Jaune snuck out of the recently rebuilt dorm rooms to sit in the hall. He remembered when Ruby had done her 'nope' conversation to get his spirits back up and he smiled at the fond memory.

Just then a message came to his scroll, a vibration coming from it to notify him. He responded by opening it up and was greeted with the picture of his smiling, older sibling with her team. Above the attached image was the text, "Just bagged our twelfth mission! Those Grimm didn't stand a chance!"

He smiled as he looked at the picture, taking in the shot of Arthelle holding up both of her hands with two fingers up in peace signs and a wide grin planted on her face while the rest of her team had their own poses. Herold had his minigun raised up high with a grin while his cigar sat at the corner of his mouth, Ryuu had both hands laying on the bottom of his sword's handle as he had the tip of the blade on the ground, and Aiden was waving with his goggles on.

It surprised Jaune that his sister was okay with being on a male dominated team, but still held position as the leader. Ever since the siblings met for the first time, they had been opposites in a way. While Jaune played it safe and sheltered himself, Arthelle was near insane with the stunts she pulled all the time and her mind was relatively dirty like Yang's.

They were the best of friends though and their biggest secret was of Art getting him his forged documents and scholarships to Beacon.

"Jaune?"

He turned his head to see Pyrrha standing there, hands behind her back as she stared down at him.

"Are you okay?"

"No Pyrrha, I still can't find Ruby," he explained and her face grew red with anger, but it went unnoticed the youngest Arc sulked.

"Jaune? Do you... love her?"

"N-no no no n- I don't know!" he cried out in frustration while Pyrrha smirked, a plan brewing within her mind.

"Jaune, if you did or didn't, you can't do anything now. You just have to let go," she said calmly and reassuringly, just barely hiding the malicious thoughts running through her head.

"A-are you sure?" he nervously asked and she nodded before her lips touched his.

The blonde was shocked at first, but realized he didn't want to mess up his first kiss. He kissed back, but in the back of his head there laid a thought about a young girl related to roses.

* * *

**Done**

**So were we have a new chapter!**

**I hope you like Team AHRA**

**They play some roles later on**

**So keep reviewing, favoriting, and following**

**Lord Revan Flame, signing off**


	6. I'll make a woman out of you

**Hello viewers**

**Welcome back to RWBY!**

**Yes, here we are**

**Training day!**

**So this time around, a bit more scenes. Fixing it to fit Benedict's more humble mood as a gentle giant**

**Anyways, here we go**

* * *

Ruby POV

"Ruby..."

"Hm?" I murmured, my eyes still closed as I clutched the crimson blanket on me to shield myself from the cold air the fan was making.

"Ruby..."

"Hm?" I murmured again, still trying to keep myself asleep.

"Ru- This isn't working. Ruby Wake Up!"

I snapped my eyes open as Benedict's booming voice resounded through the room. I shrieked in surprise and fell of the bed, again, just like yesterday morning. I groaned in pain and looked up to see Ben looking down at me with his mouth in a straight line as he raised an eyebrow.

"Not the most graceful awakening," he said and I glared at him as he turned around to walk to the door. "I would advise you get dressed. Your training begins at five o'clock."

"Five?" I asked and looked at the window to see the dark skies. "What time is it?"

"Three," he answered, "thought you might want some time to clean, dress, and eat."

"Um, thanks?" I sheepishly answered as he left.

I slowly rose up, stretching my limbs and shaking off the after effects of my rude awakening. Soon I had gotten out of the bathroom and was seated at the counter in the kitchen, eating the pancakes Aeren was making. I felt the sudden urge to eat as much as possible and raised my fork high.

"FOR SCIENCE!" I shouted at the top of my lungs and started stuffing as much pancakes in my mouth. **(A/N- All rights to that quote belong to PaladinShane because I saw it from him first. Sorry I had to use the quote, it was to awesome not to)**

I was on my fifth pancake when a porcelain toned hand gripped my pale wrist. I looked up with a stuffed mouth to see Aeren giving me a disapproving look.

"Ms. Rose, I would advise not eating a large amount of edible materials, Master Smith would make you expel it very quickly during training."

"Uh..." I trailed off, not sure what she meant by that.

"Seeing as you do not realize my intended meaning, I shall clarify," she stated as she raised her hands. "You will 'puke' your meal." She made air quotes with her fingers to emphasize 'puke'.

"Oh," I said, worried now at what Benedict's training would be. "Thanks?" I responded, sheepishly thanking her as she nodded and went back to making breakfast. Soon my new mentor entered the kitchen, dressed in his usual black coat.

"Good morning everyone," he greeted with a smile and sat down, picking up his fork with a swing us his arm. Suddenly, he did the exact same thing as I did, but with a bit more vigor and a different set of words. "In the name of humanity I shall discover how much of these fluffy pan made cakes shall fit in my mouth!"

With that he started stuffing his face as I stared at him with wide eyes. Suddenly, a porcelain toned hand grabbed him by the back of his coat and pulled him back so he was sitting straight in his seat. He finished chewing on his 15th pancake and looked up at his android servant.

"Sir," she growled with her electronic voice and he smiled nervously prompting her to let go of him so he would jerk back forward before regaining his balance.

"He he," he sheepishly laughed and began apologizing. "Sorry Aeren, you know what happens to me when you cook pancakes."

"I decided to cook them for the occasion of Ms. Rose's first day of training under your membership sir," she stated and took our plates to clean them.

"Okay, well," Mr. Smith began while placing his hands on his legs to get up. "Breakfast's over, meet me outside in an hour, training starts then."

"Okay?" I curiously said, still unsure if he was completely sane.

* * *

One Hour Later

"Here," Mr. Smith said as he gave me a wooden version of a scythe. "Seeing as that is your weapon, you will use it."

"Thanks," I responded, looking at it and playing with it since it felt strange not having my sweetheart in my hands.

We were standing outside in the training field as he called it. He held his weapon, the morning star in his hand while I had my wooden scythe. He dropped his weapon and grabbed a wooden morning star and played with it in his hand before taking a fighting stance.

"Let us begin," he stated and stared me down.

We stared at each other, but I was getting a bit impatient. Before I knew it, I was flying through the air at him, using my semblance to quickly close the gap between us. I slashed at him, but he blocked with a strong strike from his morning star. I stumbled back and he swung down, but I was to fast for him. He slammed the morning star down at where I was and I jumped onto his arm. One up of being so small was that I didn't weigh that much so I could run up his arm. I ran up his arm and landed behind him, the blade of the wooden scythe against his throat as he struggled to stay back.

"Good job," he remarked as I moved the scythe away from him. "I am very impressed."

"Thanks," I replied, blushing a bit out of being in the spotlight, but I readied my weapon again and put on my best determined face. "Now, have at me!"

"Thee," he grunted as he got up, holding his legs for support. "It's have at thee."

"Well I like it with me," I simply said in a cheeky tone.

"Whatever keeps your Nevermore flying," he said and walked over to get a sword himself. "Now, the key to combat is your style and stance."

"Style and stance? I learned that at Signal and Beacon!"

"You did, but you didn't learn it the way I'm going to teach you," he stated, twirling his sword in his hand like some kind of performer. When he was done he took a stance and then charged forward with a battle cry. I was shocked for a moment, but managed to pull up her sword in defense, blocking his attack.

We continued sparring, wooden sword clashing against wooden sword as we jumped and stumbled across the manor grounds. I was mostly on the defensive, but sometimes I managed to use my semblance to dodge an attack and hit him from behind. He'd then go on the offensive as I swiftly struck at him, getting a bunch of hits in with the wooden sword. However, I was more trained in using my scythe so he'd find a way to get me back on the defensive.

Soon I started getting tired and with what little energy I had left I ducked under one of his swings and hit him in the back of his neck with my weapon. He stumbled forward as I fell on the ground and just fell backwards onto my back, completely out of steam.

"Good, good, now hit me," he ordered, still full of energy.

"What?"

"Come on, you heard me didn't you?" he asked, waving his arms in the air, leaving himself open on purpose.

"You want me to hit you?"

"Come on!" he shouted anxiously and I sighed as I got up and used what little energy I had gotten back from my ten seconds of rest to charge at him.

He jumped back right as I stopped and slashed at him. He landed on his feet in an offensive stance and slashed down, striking my arm with the wooden sword, then he kicked my leg. I fell onto my knee from the amount of pain in my shin as it slipped out from under me. Suddenly, I saw his sword come down at me in mid-swing from an angle, but it stopped right before it hit me.

"You see, you charged in without thinking. That is what you need to work on. Always think about your opponent and what you need to do to beat them. I'm an ex-hunter, of course I'm going to beat you, but that doesn't mean you can't try to beat me," he said as he threw the sword away and helped me up, careful to not put pressure on my bruising shin. "The right course of action would have been to counter my attack by stopping before I jumped back so you could charge once more and attack me as I recovered from the jump back."

"Wow," I said as he explained it like he was teaching me how to play paddy cake. "So, more training?"

"Of course," he said and led me over to a small firing range with rifles set up on a rack.

"How do you have all this?" I asked, a bit in shock and awe from everything he owned.

"I'm a rich guy, now pick up a gun and shoot the target."

I did as he asked and picked up a rifle, careful to treat it like I would Crescent Rose because that's how you treat a weapon. You just don't handle it like it was a wooden stick or a metal bar or a-

"Ruby!" Benedict shouted, probably for the umpteenth time making me turn red in embarrassment.

"Sorry, spaced out for a second," I explained nervously and he sighed.

"Yes, it's alright. Just shoot now," he ordered and I aimed up the sight before pulling the trigger.

The bullet came out with a loud bang as it flew towards the red and white target. It hit near dead center enticing Mr. Smith to start clapping while laughing.

"Good, now that's good," he said as I looked up at him with pride. "Just a bit more practice and you can hit dead center as much as you want."

"Really?"

"No, no one can hit dead center all the time. They'll always make a mistake whether it be natural or unnatural effects."

"You sound like a really smart professor."

"I do don't I?" he replied smugly, but I dashed his joy with my next words.

"You're suppose to sound childish."

"Yeah- Hey!" he shouted in anger making me laugh as he fumed. "I can be serious and smart sometimes."

"Really?"

"Just shoot the targets," he groaned as I kept giggling.

"What about swordsmanship?" I asked, "and since I use a scythe when are we going to learn about that?"

"I'm not going to teach you when you have a bruising shin, hinders progress."

"But don't you need to fight even with wounds?"

"Yes, that's why I'm going to teach you it after you fire off a couple shots and hit those targets!" he stated and started to walk back towards the manor. Deciding to ignore that really crazy part of him for now, I raised up the gun again and fired some more shots, hitting dead center or near the red dot.

Suddenly, after the twentieth or twenty-first shot I started losing count, but then I heard clapping.

"Alright Ruby," Mr. Smith congratulated as he walked up behind me. "Dead center on fifteen of the twenty-five targets you shot, the rest are near close to the center."

"Um, thanks?" I sheepishly replied as he clasped on a hand on my shoulder.

"Now, for the close combat training," he began and turned me around so that I could see a training sword pointed at my neck. "What do you do in a situation like this?"

"I either start crying or shout for help?" I answered as I stared at the tip of the wooden sword.'

"No no no," he said, completely disappointed at my answer, but he still kept it leveled at my neck. "You find a way to counter. So how do you counter?"

"Like this?" I answered and I pushed my hand up, making it fly up, but then it flew towards me and I flinched. I didn't feel a stinging sensation or any pain so I opened my eyes to see the tip a centimeter from my eye.

"No, you need to get it away from you," he answered and he flipped the sword over so he was holding the wooden blade. "Here take this, I'll show you what to do."

"But you're taller than me," I said as I took it and he got down on his knees.

"Better?"

"Yeah," I answered and got in a stance like I had him beaten. "So what now?"

"Now this!" he shouted and swung his left arm up, but instead of hitting it directly up he slammed his fore arm against the flat of the blade and made it fly diagonally to the left so he could grab my wrist and then my other wrist. "That's how you counter," he stated and let go of me.

"Okay, so what's next?"

"Nothing, training's over," he answered simply and I raised an eyebrow at that.

"What? That's it? Nothing else?"

"No, now we go to the textbooks," he stated and I cocked my head since my eyebrow was already up.

* * *

Several Hours Later

"What were the four Grimm Legends?" Mr. Smith asked and I sat there, squirming in my seat behind the table in his massive library.

We had moved inside after the combat training, now working on my education.

"Uh... Forevermore, Malisis, Apex, and, uh..."

"Megalotic," he finished and I blushed red out of embarrassment. "Close enough kid. Now tell me about the Great War."

"Oh, um... Well," I stuttered as I tried to remember. "The Faunas revolted one day and the humans attacked in response. So both sides started fighting each other and the war started, but it ended with the Faunas gaining victory after capturing a major general when they were ambushed at night, but they could see in the dark, but the general didn't know that."

"Wow," Mr. Smith said after a while of staring at me in shock. "You seem to know a lot."

"Yeah, well I learned about it in Mr. Oobleck's history class at Beacon and my friend talked about his granddad fighting in it too."

"Wait, slow down," he responded, holding a hand up in a 'stop' gesture for me to slow down my yammering. "Oobleck's a history teacher now? Does he still talk really fast?"

I nodded yes for both questions and he chuckled under his breath.

"Still same old Oobleck, anyways. Where is the weakness of a-"

He stopped as he noticed Aeren standing in the open doorway, hands behind her back in a respectful manner.

"Hello Aeren, did you need something?" Mr. Smith kindly asked and she nodded. "What?"

"Might I suggest that you return to the blacksmith's shop to discover the whereabouts of Ms. Rose's weapon."

"Oh, right," Mr. Smith gasped and got up. "Come on Ruby, let's get your scythe."

"Aye sir," I replied, saluting and giving him a proud smile which made him crack a smile as well.

I followed him out of the room and down into the foyer where we left. With a snap of his fingers the doors swung open and we moved towards the car parked out front. I noticed the sky was bright with the color blue as white clouds slowly flew past the yellow sun unlike the dark indigo sky from earlier this morning. I climbed into the passengers seat next to Mr. Smith as he turned on the engine to start the car. We left the manor behind us and drove into Magnus, the citizens waving at the car whenever we passed.

I smiled brightly as we passed people here and there. It felt like I was a celebrity or a huntress, yeah a huntress. This is how I always imagined it to be, some famous huntress who everyone looks up to and sees as their role model.

"Come along Ruby," I heard and turned to see Benedict looking at me through the open door of the car.

"Sorry sir," I apologized as I hopped out.

We walked into the blacksmith's shop to see Valance sitting behind the counter reading a magazine.

"Hey Valance!" I greeted loudly and she jumped up, frightened. Her eyes locked onto me and she smiled widely as the wolf faunas ran over to greet me.

"Hey Ruby, how're you and Mr. Smith doing?"

"Fine Valance, now if you would please direct me to your father so I may interrogate him on the whereabouts of this little one's weapon," Benedict asked in a fancy and really annoying voice making us crack a smile and giggle. He chuckled with us and Valance eventually raised her arms from her stomach to point at the back door.

Soon we were standing in the back room, staying a bit clear of the furnace that burned brightly with a red and orange flame.

"Your welcome," Mr. O'Dehern angrily growled as he presented a polished Crescent Rose. Mr. Smith laughed heartily and started slapping his hand on the wolf faunas' back as if congratulating him for something, the blacksmith himself trying not to spill a batch of molten metal that was in a special cup that was being held by a pair of prongs he had. "Stop that!"

The middle aged man stopped his arm, but didn't stop his laughing voice. I took the weapon and tried unfolding it, but it was jammed a bit.

"I thought you fixed it?" I said, disappointed, but he just rolled his eyes.

"You said you wanted to fix it yourself, right?"

"Oh yeah," I responded with a gleeful smile, "Can I use some of your tools?"

"Go ahead," I murmured as he went back to work.

I ran over to a large wooden board with tools hanging on it. I grabbed some and started taking a part Crescent Rose, pulling out rocks and some dirt, but also some bullets and broken arrows.

"Hey Ruby," Valance whispered and I looked over at her.

"Yeah?" I asked as we looked at each other.

"When're you going to get the blade fixed?"

"As soon as your father can get everything set up," Mr. Smith stated and Mr. O'Dehern turned to look at us again before rolling his eyes. "Now, Ranulf. How goes the construction of Ruby's weapon!"

"I melted the blade!" he shouted and I perked up.

"You what!" I screamed with concern as I ran over to him.

"I said I melted the blade so we can re-mold it," he explained more thoroughly and I calmed down.

"Oh, sorry," I apologized sheepishly and he rolled his eyes before turning his head to look at what I assumed was the molten form of my precious' blade.

"I was about to add some more Hard Steel in, but I stopped so I could ask you if you wanted a different metal for your weapon's blade," he explained further and I gave him a quizzical look.

"A different metal?" I asked and he nodded.

"Steel is a strong metal that a lot of weapons use, but Hard Steel is much stronger and very expensive. However, there are even more materials used in the crafting of weapons. I'm sure Ben's shown you his dust crystal blades."

"So you want to know if I want to use something different for my Preci- Crescent Rose's blade?" I asked, correcting myself before I could say 'Precious' out loud.

"Well, yes," he answered, shrugging his shoulders as he spoke.

"I don't know. I want to keep Crescent Rose the way it is," I answered and he rested his chin on a gloved knuckle.

"What if I- you fuse the blade's metal with another?" he asked, correcting himself as he remembered I was the one who was putting together Crescent Rose.

"How do I do that?" I asked, leaning my head to the side. "They never taught us how to fuse stuff."

"It's a rare thing for metal to be fused because the dust needed for it is rare. I just received a shipment of that certain dust a couple days before you arrived in Magnus. I've been wanting to test it and since your mentor over there is paying me a lot for this I might as well use it for your weapon."

"Wow," was all I could say in response and he chuckled a bit before getting up.

He moved over to a crate and opened it up before taking out a vial of orange dust. He walked over to a large wooden door and gestured for me to follow him. I complied and he opened the door to reveal a room filled with large containers filled with all kinds of metals. Some were filled to the rim or were barely filled, a few were empty, but most had at least a couple pieces of whatever they held in them.

"Read the labels and pick a material," he said and I gleefully nodded as I started running around with my semblance, turning into a red blur.

"Titanium"

"Platinum"

"Iron"

"Dust Crystals"

"Hard Steel"

I read off all the tags and ran around three more times to make sure I didn't miss anything. The idea of making my Precious better was definitely giving me a feeling of excitement and exhilaration.

"Whoa!" Ranulf shouted as he managed to grab my hood before I could run anymore. I stopped after feeling the jerking sensation, knowing if I went any further my cloak could rip. I backed up and looked at his questioning face.

"So? Any ideas?"

"Um..." I trailed off and started nibbling on a curled up finger in thought. "I don't know."

"You don't know?" he asked, raising his other eyebrow.

"Yeah," I answered, looking up at him.

"Well since you're Ben's student I might as well give you the special treatment," he sighed and led me over to one of the large containers.

"Mythrium," I read as he reached in an pulled out two light blue ingots.

"You know this metal use to be a legend until they found ginormous deposits in the mountains of Atlas," he explained as we walked with the surprisingly light metal bars.

"Now, put the Mythrium in the furnace," Mr. O'Dehern stated as he walked off.

Benedict and Valance walked over to help me put the metal in the furnace, but they were shocked by how light it was.

"Light as a feather," Mr. Smith commented with a smile as the blacksmith came back with a vial of red Dust.

"Ms. Rose, please open up your hand," Valance's dad said and I obeyed.

He lit the fire and poured a small amount of the Dust into my hand and gestured for me to toss it into the flames. I tossed it into the fire and immediately it roared, the fire plumed into a burning cloud making us jump back in fright. However, it quickly went back to licking the sides of the furnace, burning brighter and hotter now.

"Burn Dust, makes the fire hotter," he explained and we nodded in understanding.

Soon the Mythrium was melted and he handed me a pair of prongs. I grabbed the cup it had been melted in with a pair of prongs and took it over to where he wanted it to be. He brought a mold of Crescent Rose's blade out and set it down on the table next to the molten forms of the Mythrium and Hard Steel. He poured in the Mythrium and took the vial of dust he had before.

"Open your hand again please," he asked and I did. He gave me a tiny amount of the orange dust and ordered me to sprinkle it in. For a moment, the molten metal flashed orange before dying down quickly. We stared at it in awe with gaping mouths. "Now take your weapon's molten blade and pour it in."

I obliged and grabbed the cup with the molten metal of my Precious' old Hard Steel blade and poured it into the mold. It started glowing instead of flashing this time and as it glowed brighter we averted our eyes. After a couple seconds it died down and we looked back to see just regular molten metal colored the same steel grey as they were before. He set the other side of the mold down onto it and stepped back.

"Be back by tomorrow and it should be cooled down," Mr. O'Dehern stated, but I frowned.

"Can't I just wait here, it'll only take a couple hours." **(A/N- I honestly don't know how long it takes to cool molten metal, but I'll just say that he can cool it in half a day because of RWBY tech and Dust and stuff)**

"Yes, but it's eight o'clock," he replied and I heard Mr. Smith raise his arm.

"Wow, we were here for that long?" he asked, realizing we were here for hours. "Come on Ruby, you can wait."

"Alright," I grumbled and followed him out. "Thank you for letting me remake Crescent Rose though!"

"It was a pleasure!" Valance's dad shouted back with a laugh and I smiled as I left the blacksmith's shop.

* * *

Jaune POV

"So, um... where do you want to go?" I asked Pyrrha as we walked around Vale.

I was taking her out on our first date, but I had no idea where to take her.

"How about that restaurant?" she said and pointed at a brightly lit restaurant with many people sitting in it.

"Sure," I nervously replied and we walked over to talk.

About two hour later we were outside, done eating and now on our ways back to the airships.

"Oh, wait," I said as I checked my pockets. "I think I dropped my scroll in the restaurant."

"Oh, well I'll be waiting at the airships," Pyrrha replied and I nodded as I ran back to get to the restaurant before someone found my scroll and probably steal it.

Suddenly, I smashed into someone and landed on my butt as I heard a yelp. I looked over to see a girl wearing an old fashioned blouse with feminine overalls and black stocking with green glowing lines on either side of them. Her hair was a neon orange and her eyes were like large emeralds. A pink bow was placed on her head and a black choker with green lines on it was set around her neck.

"Salutations!" she greeted with a smile, still sitting on the sidewalk.

"Uh, hi," I greeted and helped her up. "Sorry about running into you."

"It's alright, I'm perfectly fine," she said energetically.

"Okay, so I'm just going to go," I said and started moving until her hand grabbed my arm.

"Are you Jaune Arc?" she asked and I nodded cautiously.

She held out a scroll and after several moments I realized it was _my_ scroll.

"Oh, thanks," I said as I took it. "Why'd you have it?"

"I found it on the sidewalk and my friend, Ruby is a hero so I wanted to be a hero too!"

"Wait? Ruby!" I shouted and she nodded with a smile on her face. "You know Ruby?"

"Yes, do you know my friend?"

"Yeah, she's my friend too. She's gone though."

"Gone?"

"You don't know?"

"Know what?" she asked, tilting her head.

"Oh, well... Ruby's, she's... Ruby's dead."

Her eyes widened in shock as her mouth slightly dropped. Tears started forming in her eyes and I could only just watch her cry out her pain.

"Yeah, I cried a lot too," I said as I tried to console her, rubbing a hand on her back.

"My only friend is gone?"

"Only friend? Who are you?" I asked and she looked up at me, sniffling.

"I-I'm P-Penny," she answered as she sniffled and choked on her sobs.

"Wait, Penny? That girl Ruby talked about from the docks?"

She nodded and I got up, remembering all the times Ruby talked about her.

"I'm really sorry Penny," I said and she looked at me confused.

"Why are you apologizing?"

"I don't know, it's just... well we were on a the same mission and I should've been able to protect her, but I got knocked out. I could've been stronger and could've saved her!"

"It's okay," Penny replied, sniffling a bit, now out of tears to cry out.

We stood there for several moments before I rubbed the back of my head nervously.

"Uh, Penny. It's nice meeting you, but I have to go somewhere right now," I said and she nodded.

"Goodbye Friend-Jaune," she shouted as I ran and I stumbled a bit when I heard the 'Friend-Jaune' bit.

"Friend-Jaune huh? Maybe I can help her like Pyrrha helped me," I murmured as I ran to the airships.

* * *

Benedict POV

"Goodnight sir," Ruby said as a farewell while running up the stairs to her room.

I smiled and replied back before walking outside to the front porch. I sat down on the chair I had, had since I moved here. By now my wounds would have reopened and I'd be shouting for Aeren to get the healing dust, but thanks to that little girl, I'm healed.

I sighed, something I often did these days, feeling the burden I carried flow with the hot air leaving my lungs. I looked up at the sky and noted the many stars out tonight, watching them twinkle and gleam.

"Nearly 9 years of solitude," I murmured, my low voice only adding to the somber tone I spoke in. "and you just walk right into my life."

The memories of that day rushed into my head, the explosions all around me, the blades cutting into my skin, and the stinging pain of each betrayal. My eyes narrowed as I stared into the sky, watching the stars slowly create constellations of my own making, showcasing me slowly crawling away as explosions rocked me from every side as I tried to escape the onslaught of my brothers and sisters in arms.

"If you truly are her daughter, then it must be fate that we cross paths," he said, holding a mug of hot chocolate up to his face.

* * *

**Finished**

**I hope you liked this chapter**

**Sorry for the long wait, but I have no schedule for writing so I may update sooner or later**

**So I wanted to highlight that Jaune has no experience with girls, much like me**

**The chapter earlier he knew nothing about love so he thought he was in love with Ruby, but now he doesn't know because he's staring at other girls and their ack hm, assets**

**I mean, come on he's got hot girls all around him**

**So, anyways you also get a view into Benedict's mind over what he thinks about Ruby a bit and his life so far**

**Anyways, serious training starts next time when Ruby gets Crescent Rose back**

**Remember to Favorite and Follow**

**But always, Review**

**I ask of you, no I beg of you**

**Review**

**Actually I'm asking, just review and favorite and follow**

**Sincerely,  
Lord Revan Flame**


	7. Ruby I Found You!

**Hello viewers!**

**I hope you liked the last chapter because here's the next one!**

**Here we have Penny's discovery of Ruby!**

**This is set as many days later as it says below**

**So without further ado**

**Let us begin!**

* * *

Ruby POV

One Week Later

"Hyah!" I shouted as I sped at Benedict, Crescent Rose in hand, the blade gleaming in the sunlight. He dodged, jumping back from my swing and narrowly missing the Hard Mythrium blade as Valance had dubbed the the metal.

Just as the blade passed him I pulled the trigger and fired Crescent Rose's rifle barrel. The bullet headed for my mentor, but he raised his heavy repeating cannon up to fire. The dust shots he sent at me incinerated my billet and headed straight for me. I dodged quickly and sped at him, slashing again. This time he was to slow and the blade sliced through the metal chest plate he wore. He gripped the chest plate with his hand and pulled it back to show a small amount of blood on it.

While he was distracted I shot at him and the high impact shot forced him back. I slashed again, this time he blocked my attack with his weapon, now in its morning start form. The cut on his chest was shallow so he didn't seem to be bleeding out. He swung his morning star down at me and I jumped out of the way.

I collapsed my sweetheart and started shooting at him. The bullets pounced him and he stumbled back some more before I put the edge of Crescent Rose next to his neck, just about ready to Nick his skin.

I smiled and so did he as I removed Crescent Rose. Setting the morning star on his shoulder he laughed and patted me on the head. I rubbed his hand off with a pout that just made him laugh some more.

"Very good Ruby, you are excelling well in physical training," Benedict stated with a an approving voice. "However, your academic skills seem to be lacking."

"Sorry," I apologized while turning red and he put an arm on my shoulder.

"I never asked for an apology Ruby, just an answer to why you seem to sleep through my lessons."

"Well they're kinda long and I get really tired because I'm not doing something physical plus I-"

He put a finger on my moving lips, silencing me so I would stop rambling on.

"Sorry," I apologized again as we moved to return to the manor.

About halfway there from the training grounds and Metastract Manor, Mr. Smith collapsed, holding a bleeding chest.

"it would seem I have reopened the wound," my mentor painful groaned and I cupped my hands around my mouth.

"AEREN!"

The android appeared behind us almost instantly, making me drop my mentor's arm.

"Yes?"

"Could you get Mr. Smith patched up?" I asked and she nodded.

"I shall heal him. Also Ms. Rose, your friend, Ms. O'Dehern wishes to see you."

"Valance is here?" I asked and the platinum blonde nodded.

I smiled widely and sped past her with the use of my semblance. The doors were open so I stopped inside the foyer, a rush of air and dust trailing behind me and hitting Valance in the face making her cough a bit.

"Bleh, dust in my mouth," she spit as she tried to clean her mouth. I giggled and she glared at me before smiling. "So what do you want to do today? Or are you training with Mr. Smith still?"

"Oh, he's not training me for the rest of the day, probably because of that cut I gave him across his chest."

"You slashed his chest?"

"Well, it wasn't that deep, but it still bled. Aeren's healing him right now so I guess I'm free for today."

"Ooh, let's go get some cookies from Henry's bakery and then let's go shopping!"

"Well I'd like to go get the cookies, but I'm don't really wear much clothes except for my blouse, my combat skirt, and my cloak."

"Then you need some fashion tips!" she squealed in joy while I stared at her curiously.

"You? With fashion tips?" I asked and she huffed in anger.

"Well I can be a girl sometimes!"

"So can I," I replied, but she laughed.

"Your a tomboy, Ruby!" she laughed loudly making me turn red in embarrassment.

"Excuse me?"

We turned our heads to see Mr. Smith on the platform where the two staircases met on the second floor.

"We may not be able to do actual combat training, but you must still improve your academic skills."

"But-"

He cut me off immediately with a hard glare making me shiver a bit.

"Great, now I'm stuck in the library," I grumbled as I followed him to the library. Valance went with us too, interested in what I was going to learn today. We entered and I plopped down on a chair, the same thing with my wolf faunas pal who plopped down next to me.

Benedict seemed to have a hard time walking around with the bandage on his chest. Aeren used healing dust in patching people up, but it didn't fully heal the cut as I could tell. He probably still felt pain which was most likely why he was squirmimg around and stuff.

"It seems you lack in your historical skills as well as mathematics."

"Ugh," I groaned as he put a history book in front of me. "Do I have too?"

"I may act like your guardian, but I am also your teacher. So open the book and search for the first alliance between Humans and Faunas."

I opened up the massive book and looked in the index for the page. Eventually, meaning a couple minutes, I found the page.

" Study that page," he spoke as he sat down in a chair and pulled out his scroll, opening it to look at something.

A half hour later a finger poked me and I looked up groggily to see a disappointed Benedict.

"I fell asleep again didn't I?"

"Not just you," he responded and gestured at the pup faunas snoring silently next to me.

"Valance," I whispered and she growled in her sleep.

"She's not waking up," he stated and I smacked my forehead against the table.

"Isn't there some way that i can learn and not get bored? Like tell me a story just like that time you told me about the Grimm Legends."

"Perhaps," he spoke after pondering on my proposition, "but I still need to remember if I have a tale to tell for the lessons."

"Do you have one for this history lesson?"

"Yeah," we heard and I looked over to see Valance awake now, rubbing the sleepiness out of her eyes.

"I do remember one story, an old legend my father told me about a long time ago."

"Ooh," both Valance and I said in awe as he went over to a shelf to pull out a rather large book.

"Okay, where is it?" he murmured, flipping through the pages.

"Do I have to learn from that?" I nervously asked and thankfully he shook his head.

"It's actually more of a legend than a story, but about the same thing."

"What's it about?" I asked as he took a seat in a chair. I leaned my head to the side as I stared at him with curiosity.

"My father told me this story all the time when I was, but a small child who dreamed of being a Hunter. Long ago, during the time when both Man and Faunas hated each other and prehistoric creatures roamed the face of Remnant. There were those who believed that the Grimm were the true enemy of their people. They struck a deal together and created the warriors we now today call Hunters and Huntresses," he spoke, finger still on his chin as he tried to remember the story.

"So that's how it started?" Valance asked and my mentor just glared at her.

"Let me finish," he growled and she turned red with embarrassment while squirming in her seat. "Both species began working together in co-existence, but as you can probably guess Humans still thought that they were better. However, there were certain groups of hunters made up of both men and Faunas."

"Dino?" I asked, eyes growing wide as I leaned forward in anticipation. "Like dinosaurs?"

"No, DYNO as in dynamic, but DYNO with an 'o' instead of an 'a'," he explained and I mouthed an 'o', ironically.

"So, this team as my father said was an original team of Hunters made up of Men and Faunas. Now this is where the legend starts, it is said that they were the strongest, most powerful team of Hunters in existence because they drank the blood of Grimm. It fused with them and made them stronger, but also more fierce and predatorial."

"You can do that?" Valance asked. "I mean drink the blood of Grimm and not get something bad?"

"No," he laughed, a smirk on his face, "it's impossible. All the idiotic Hunters and Huntresses that do it today are dead or insane because you can't just drink the blood of Grimm. They're evil!"

"Oh, um... so is the legend true?"

"Course not," he said, "They probably got some prehistoric steroids and got buffed up." We cracked smiles at that and started laughing together. It was several minutes before we could stop and when we did I raised my hand like I was in a classroom at Beacon. "Yes Ruby?"

"Do you know what their names were?"

"Well..." he said and trailed off, going into thought. "Let me think for a moment." We waited a while before he sprung up form his seat and ran to a bookshelf, his fingers running across the spines of different books as he read the titles. "No. No. No. No. Yes. No. No. Wait!"

He went back three books and took out the one he had said yes too. He brought it over to our table and set it down, opening it up for us to see. It was an old leather back one and inside there was a bunch of records and stuff. There was a picture of some ancient paintings, an ancient language I remembered as the prehistoric writings that cave men used, and also some records on this stuff.

"Let's see," he murmured as he put a finger on the tainted yellow pages, sliding his finger down some paragraphs of a translation guide. "Here we go, the names of Team DYNO."

"What does it say?" I anxiously asked as he translated.

"The leader was named Demon, no Daemon," he translated as he smiled a bit from learning something new and cool. "He was a human male, tall and strong, a born leader, but also a brute."

"What about the other members?" Valance asked while cocking her head to the side.

"For the Y in the name there was, Yakecen, a hawk Faunas who believed that only the sky was the limit. He was energetic and bold."

"The N in the team name was Nardo, a tough bull Faunas who charged head first into battle, always making himself a battering ram for his allies to use. While not the most intelligent he was a strong one."

"Finally, the O was Ohitekah, a man who was known as a warrior monk. He was strong and used blades as his weapons."

"They sound awesome," I gasped in awe while he smiled.

"Yes, but unfortunately it is still a legend," he stated and we groaned.

"Can't you let us dream for once?" Valance asked and he rolled his eyes at us.

"There are no legends, just heroes and villains," he stated, flicking her puppy dog nose making her cringe. "Now, another story... hm..."

"Actually," I said and he tilted his head a bit at my words or actually, word, "I think that's good enough for today."

"Class is over, you guys can go run along now."

"Yeah!" we cheered and rushed out of the library, leaving him to examine the rest of the ancient book.

* * *

An Hour Later

"Where do you want to go first?" Valance asked me as we stood in the mall.

"I dunno," I answered and she huffed in annoyance at me, putting her hands on her hips while frowning. Her face turned red and with her curly orange hair it made me have to stifle a giggle.

"Come on, I can't decide either. One of us has to choose!" she stated with red cheeks and a frown.

I sat down on a bench and crossed my legs as I started to think. I leaned my head forward a bit and hunched my shoulders as I got more into thought and she came over, then plopped down next to me. She just stared at me as I thought, then started playing with my cloak.

"Hey," I growled as I pulled the cloak from her.

"Sorry, just bored because _you_ can't decide!"

"Well I'm sorry, but this was _your_ decision to come here!"

We glared at each other for a minute or two before laughing loudly and leaning back on the bench.

"So you wanna go see the weapons shop?" Valance asked and my eyes bulged.

"They have a weapons shop?"

"Sure, that's where dad sends all the parts and weapons he builds," she explained and my smile grew wider.

"Let's go!" I shouted as I grabbed her arm and dragged her along.

With my semblance active I ran through the mall, a red blur with a orange blur as I dragged my friend along with me.

"Take a right!" Valance directed, giving me the directions to the weapons store. "Left!"

I took the left and ended up in front of a large store, the sign above it saying, "Grimm Slayers".

"Nice name," I commented and Valance nodded.

She walked up and opened the door, walking in to see a woman behind the counter, her head in her arm as she snored kinda loudly.

"Lina?"

The woman, a slender woman with an athletic build and brown hair tied in a braid kept snoring. We looked at each other and Valance walked over to the counter and rung the little bell on it. She stopped snoring and snapped to attention, her eyes wide revealing sea green eyes.

"I'm awake!" she stated and looked around frantically before her eyes laid on us. "Oh, it's just you Valance."

"Hi Lina," my orange haired friend greeted with a smile.

"Hey," she greeted back, but then her eyes traveled over to me. "Who's your new friend?"

"Oh, this is Ruby!" she stated proudly and I blushed rosy red.

"Well, she didn't drag you out over here against your will did she? She loves coming here."

"Actually, Ruby took me here," Valance explained and she raised an eyebrow.

"Really?" she asked and I shyly nodded.

"I'm kinda a geek when it comes to weapons," I explained and she laughed not at me, but what I said.

"Well Valance is the same way," she explained and my friend turned red in embarrassment. "Always makes me show her what's new. Speaking of which." She got up and walked over to a door that probably led to the back. She went through it and came back with a large crate. "Here you go, today's shipment of weapons from Vale."

"Alright!" Valance cheered and rushed over to the crate, taking the crowbar from Lina and broke open the top of it.

"You just let her take a look at it?" I asked and the store clerk nodded.

"Yeah, I know she won't steal anything since her dad would probably send her off to some boring boarding school instead of Signal or Beacon."

"Oh," I said, hiding my face a bit when she named the two academies I had gone to.

"Hey Ruby! Check this out!" I heard my friend shout and looked over to see her pull out a large metallic backpack.

"That's a Mark V Booster Pack!" I squealed in joy and Lina laughed, realizing I was a weapons nerd. I blushed rosy red as the store clerk went over and took the weapon from her.

Suddenly, Lina stopped as she stared at me, her eyes widening. The look in her eyes seemed to show that something clicked in her head.

"Ruby Rose... Ruby Rose, my sister goes to Beacon and she said you died!"

"I uh, I..." I trailed off after stuttering and her eyes bore into me.

"I can explain for her," Valance cut in and our eyes moved to look at her. "You can go if you want Ruby."

I nodded and left the store as Valance started to speak about my friends' betrayal. I jumped at hearing Benedict's voice and looked up to see the middle aged man staring down at me.

"You okay Ruby?"

"Mr. Smith," I said and he looked at me, my silver eyes starting to water, "what am I going to do?"

I hugged him and he stared down at me in shock before awkwardly putting his arms around my tiny body.

"What happened Ruby?"

"The lady behind the counter, Lina recognized me. What if more people recognize me?"

He stared at me, his steel eyes locking with my silver ones. I buried my head into his chest and he held me there, just held me there.

"Well, here is what I think you should do," he stated and put a hand on my shoulder to move me away a bit. He moved us to a nearby bench and we sat down so he could lecture me. "You asked me to train you to get stronger, so do you still want to get stronger or do you want to go back with what you've already learned."

"Well..." I trailed off as I sat there. I pulled my knees to my chest and rested my chin on them as I thought. I felt his hand on my shoulder and it calmed me down a bit from all the anxiety I was having. I looked up at him and he smiled that childish, fun smile that seemed to warm anybody's heart. "How much more do I need to learn?"

"Dunno," he sighed and sat down next to me. "By the time we're done though you should have enough knowledge to be a fourth year Beacon student while everyone else is a third year. I lived a long life as a Hunter and as Ranulf probably told you I lost everything because of one mission."

"Yeah, he says you lost one of your teammates," I remembered and he nodded.

"Naomi Anderson, that's who she was," he mournfully stated and I looked at him with sympathy as he stared down at the ground. "I became stronger and stronger as I fought as a Hunter and this eventually got to me. I became arrogant, egotistical and this led me to challenge my leader for leadership over our team. I ofcourse lost to him, but my defeat created rage and my rage became fuel for the fire."

"What fire?" I asked, leaning my head a bit to the side in confusion.

"The fire that was my hunger for battle. Then it happened, one day on a mission to exterminate a horde of Grimm near a village I arrogantly charged the horde without a second thought. We were outnumbered and outmatched. The village was saved, but our teammate lost her life because of me."

"What was she like?" I asked and he smiled a bit as he recalled the memories.

"Little tech head, that's what she was like. Anti-social until she became part of the team. We'd force her to look away from her computer long enough for us to have decent conversations until she could look away herself," he explained with a chuckle. "One minute she's typing up a program for something, the next she's upgrading her arsenal with new tech."

"New tech?" I asked and he nodded as he finally looked up.

"I swear she had blackmarket sources. The weapons she made were amazing. Upgraded my light cannon into a heavy one and even built a new kind of tech that used cables to manipulate weapons, kinda like a master controlling a puppet."

"Wow," I said, impressed at all of that. "So, if you don't mind. Which you probably will... what was your wife like?"

He turned his head to look at me, eyes full of sadness and regret as he stared at me.

"A lot like you, that's for sure," he said and my eyes widened. "Loved to be carefree and save lives. She was a born hero, but I never deserved her."

"Don't say that," I stated and lightly punched him in the arm. He faked pain and hissed in fake agony as he glared at me with fake hate. "Your so dramatic."

"I like being dramatic, being dramatic is just so much fun," he stated with a laugh.

"Ruby!"

Both of us turned our head to see Valance running towards us.

"Oh, hi Mr. Smith."

"Hello Valance," he greeted and waved.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, curious and for the first time it popped in my head too.

"Yeah, what _are_ you doing here?" I asked and he chuckled.

"I was going to buy some supplies for your training down at Grimm Slayers."

"Oh yeah," Valance interrupted, "Lina's getting a bit worked up and I'm not sure if she'll call Beacon or not."

"I can handle this," Benedict stated before I could shout in surprise.

He strode over to the shop and entered. A couple minutes later he left and I could see a blushing Lina through the shop's window.

"What'd you do to get her all red?" I asked and he rubbed the back of his neck.

"I am very persuasive," he stated and I raised an eyebrow while Valance giggled.

"Lina has a crush on him, he kinda uses it to his advantage sometimes," she stated and I gasped in shock, my gaping mouth quickly turning into a frown as I glared at my mentor.

"What?" he said, elongating the word in suspense.

"You're taking advantage of her?" I asked and he shrugged.

"I get 10% off everytime I come and I'll drop a hint or two that I-," he stopped himself and raised both hands to make air quotes, "like her."

"That's cruel," I stated and he nervously squirmed under our teenage glares.

"Well, anyways, I also got those supplies," he stated and held up a bag of stuff in it.

I peered in, but he quickly took it out of my sight, not that I could see much in the shadowy depths of it.

"No peeking till tomorrow. That's when the fun starts," he stated and I grumbled angrily under my breath.

He just laughed heartily at that and gestured for us to follow him.

"Come on, it's getting late. I'm sure your dad won't mind you eating dinner at the manor," Benedict stated, speaking to Valance.

* * *

Several Hours Later

Dinner had been finished and now Benedict and I were strolling around the front porch. Valance had gone home so now I was spending quality time with my mentor. The front porch was pretty cool, there was a rocking chair out front he apparently sat in, a little table with some old chairs, and a little rose garden he had, kinda ironic.

Anyways, I was asking him somemore questions about his old life. He didn't seemed bothered that much, but I could tell that some of the questions were making him reach in pretty deep to give me a small answer.

"So Mr. O'Dehern said that your wife took your son with her when she left, what was he like?" I asked, putting emphasis on he to get him to answer a bit more.

"Wasn't much to say about _her_," he stated and watching with a smile as I turned red realizing he had a daughter, not a son. "From the three years I knew her she was a little ball of blonde untamable energy."

"Wow," I said and he smiled. "Wait, three years? You had a three-year-old daughter with your wife and she just left with her."

"No, the daughter wasn't mine. She was in a relationship with another guy a couple years before we started dating. They broke up, I comforted her, she fell for me, I fall for her, we date, get married, I take care of her and that guy's daughter, then my teammate dies, and she leaves."

"Wow," I said again, still astonished at his story. "Must be a pretty sucky life."

"Yes, sometimes it feels as if my destiny is to live in regret and self pity. However, you came here and I finally have a new purpose," he laughed and I sheepishly laughed along with him.

Suddenly, there was a ringing sound and I realized it was Benedict's scroll ringing, meaning he was getting a call. He pulled it out and answered, then Aeren's face appeared.

"Yes Aeren?" Mr. Smith asked as the android stared at us.

"Sir, the scanners detected a fast moving individual earlier today in the forest. It entered the town and is now heading for the manor as we speak."

"Heading for the manor?" I asked and that's when we heard the rustling.

Immediately, I pulled out Crescent Rose and expanded it into it's scythe form. Benedict thrust his hand behind him and grabbed the handle on his weapon, quickly pulling it out of its compact form in which it became a sort of armored backpack on him. It transformed into his heavy cannon and he held it at the ready.

We waited for several moments, wondering if the intruder would make the move first. We were answered immediately when a blur of orange, black, and green tackled me in a bone crushing hug.

"I've found you Ruby!" Penny cried out in joy and my eyes just went wide in shock.

"PENNY!" I screamed in horror as Benedict stared down at the ginger haired girl hugging me to death while I tried to crawl away.

He let out a chuckle and transformed Dust Knight into its morning star form so he could put it on his shoulder and still be ready for battle, in case Penny attacked.

"I'm guessing you know each other?" he asked and I nodded, my face completely red. By now I was sure that with my cloak's hood on I'd be mistaken as part of the cloak.

"This is Penny," I explained as I managed to untangle her from me. "She saved me and my friends when we fought the White Fang."

"Salutations!" the awkward girl greeted, standing up and saluting.

"Salutations back, so you saved Ruby and her friends?" Benedict asked, loosening his grip on Dust Knight.

"Yes, I saved Ruby and her friends," Penny stated, smiling widely.

"That's good then, so how'd you find her here?" he asked, transforming his weapon back into its compact form now.

"I followed Ruby's tracks out of Vale and into the forest, then here in this town. Everyone said that Mr. Smith had a little girl with a red cloak and now I've found you friend!"

She was about to crush me in a hug again, but I backed up, shoving my arms forward in a gesture that I was fine with no hugs.

"Ruby, who is this?" she asked, confused as she stated at my mentor.

"Oh, that's right. You haven't met him," I said and went to stand behind her. I put an arm around her shoulder and my other arm pointed at Benedict as I introduced him. "This is Benedict Smith, he's training me to be stronger."

"Stronger?" she asked and I nodded.

"Everyone I knew tried to kill me so I'm trying to get stronger so I can back and show them I'm stronger," I explained and she tilted her head in confusion.

"But what about Jaune? He is very depressed."

"John? Wait, Jaune!"

"Yes," she answered and I felt my mouth drop.

"Jaune's sad? About me being gone?" I asked, some kind of warm feeling stirring in me.

"Who's John?" Benedict asked and I lightly struck his arm with my fist.

"His name's Jaune, Jaune," I repeated again, elongating and pronunciating it so he could understand. "Jaune Arc, he was my first friend at Beacon."

"Is he now?" Mr. Smith asked, crossing his arms. "I'm starting to wonder if he was something more."

"More?" I asked and he smiled as it dawned on me. "No no no no no, we're just friends sir."

"I dunno, that's what my wife and I said when we first met."

"Yeah, but you guys split up," I said and his childish smile dropped. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean too."

"No, no, it's fine," he said as he turned around. "You should explain your situation to Penny here. I'll be inside."

He left me in an awkward silence with Penny, which just made it even more awkward.

"So Penny, did Jaune tell you to look for me?" I asked and she nodded. "But aren't you participating in the Vytal Tournament? You can't just come out here to look for me."

"I know," she stated, "I asked my team leader if I could look for you."

"And they said yes?"

"No," she said, looking down in what I assumed was shame. "I wanted to look for you, but they said if I left, then I am no longer a student at my academy."

"You gave up your training as a huntress to be find me?" I asked and she nodded furiously, a smile on her face.

"You are my first friend, Ruby," she stated with a wide smile and I smiled back, my heart warmed by her statement.

"Are you going to tell Jaune I'm here?" I asked, worried if they'll find me here and take me back to Beacon before I can get stronger.

"Not if you want to stay here," she said, her eyes full of that friendly compassion I knew them for.

"But where are you going to stay now? What are you going to do now?" I asked, concerned about her well being now.

"I believe I have a solution," we heard and turned to see Aeren behind us, her hands in front of her, one cupping the other in a respectful manner.

"Oh, Penny, this is Aeren. She's an android," I explained and Penny's mouth made a small 'o' making me stifle a giggle. "So Aeren, what did you mean you have a solution?"

"There are many rooms in the manor and I believe Master Smith could be persuaded to mentor Ms. Penny as well."

"Yeah, he'd never say no to this adorable face," I laughed, but then I remembered what I had just said to him before he went back to the manor. "Hey Aeren? Where's Mr. Smith right now?"

"He is currently in his library, searching through old books. I believe he is searching for an old scrapbook."

"Oh," I said and followed her inside with Penny behind me.

"This place is amazing!" Penny exclaimed in awe as we walked in.

Her emerald green eyes were wide and her mouth was open wide as she twirled around slowly and took in the view. I smiled and laughed a bit before moving again to find Benedict. Penny noticed me leaving so she followed me down the candle lit corridors and into the library where I found the middle aged man bent over the table, flipping over pages in the old leather book we saw earlier.

"Did you know that the first hunters came from a prehistorice time?" I heard him say and I looked around for anybody, seeing if there was somebody he was talking too.

"Um, are you talking to me?" I asked and he nodded. "Um, well... no?"

"They were, dinosaurs roamed the land and prehistoric Grimm hunted them to near extinction until they discovered Dust. Technology quickly advanced with the new discovery of power. With the discovery of how to turn Dust into power came the discovery of how to create machines powered by Dust and with the discovery of machines came weapons of great power. With this series of discoveries, Hunters became deadlier and much more advanced then they were years prior to the discovery of this miraculous power."

"Why're you telling me this?" I asked, worried if he'd snapped or something.

"Because that was today's lesson," he stated as he turned around, his mouth a line that slightly bent down to make a barely visible frown. "Unfortunately, I was sidetracked earlier by the story of Team DYNO."

"Oh, well, nice lesson," I nervously replied, but he rolled his eyes and took the book up in his hands.

"Team DYNO and co., one of the first group of Hunters to ever exist. To stupid to believe that they could drink the blood of Grimm and survive. Disappearing from history forever, most likely to hide their probably gruesome fate."

"Um, Benedict?" I asked, gaining his attention by saying his first name. "I wanted to know if Penny could-"

"Stay here and train with you?" he asked and my eyes widened a bit at what he just said. Then I realized I was talking to an ex-Hunter, he probably could already tell what I was going to ask. "Perhaps, if she's ready for how much training she'll do."

Instantly, Penny stepped up and saluted again, her flat hand coming up to her forehead as she stood tall with pride.

"I'm Combat Ready!" she stated proudly and he smiled a bit at that, then he laughed heartily making me smile knowing he was over that little incident we had before.

"Well then," he said and all the sudden threw Dust Knight in its morning star form at Penny. I tried to run over and push her out of the way, but I saw the backpack on her back open up to reveal her set of swords fly out and create a protective shield in front of her.

The morning star was deflected and it struck the table behind him. He was stunned, completely stunned at what he saw in front of him.

"Wow," Mr. Smith gasped in shock. "Now that's just... incredible."

"So are you going to teach her?" I asked and he nodded.

"Sensational!" Penny cheered as she returned her swords to the backpack on her back.

* * *

Third Person POV

"Well this has been a successful operation," a man with fiery orange hair and a white suit stated, twirling his cane around.

"Roman," he heard and turned to see his partner in crime for the moment, Cinder Fall approach.

The sound of her heels clacking and clicking on the ground resounded around them in the warehouse. She was flanked by her compatriots, a boy and a girl. Their names he didn't know yet, but he wish he wouldn't. He'd heard rumors about this woman before they met. A fiery goddess who loved to turn places into enormous barbecques.

"Ah, Cinder. Nice to see you again!" he shouted with joy as he raised his arms as if to give her a hug.

However, as soon as he moved towards her, she held up a flaming fist. The fire licked her pale skin and the criminal stepped back a bit, frightened for a moment before regaining his composure.

"I didn't come to get a new boyfriend," she sneered and extinguished the flame. "Now tell me, how goes our plans?"

He turned around and opened up his arms as he directed their attention to the map on the wall.

"Well it seems our litle nuisance, Little Red is gone so our operations are going well. Had a little trouble with that monkey kid from the encounter with the ginger kid, you know the one who shot down three of our bullheads?"

"Yes I remember," she groaned, annoyed at his playful attitude. "So how long till we have enough resources to launch our attack?"

"I dunno," he shrugged, crossing his arms on his chest. "We haven't gotten the full details on the stuff we took yet. We're taking inventory right now."

Immediately, Cinder's small hand grabbed him by the collar of his suit and pushed him against the table. Her fist was pulled back, ablaze again. He stared at her for a moment before going back to his playful demeanor.

"I'm not sure I like having a dominant woman in a relationship, but I'll make an exception for you," he flirted and she growled, but her attention was soon taken by a file next to him, a small piece of a report stuck out of the file, one particular part of the report that was visible caught her eye. Noticing her new gaze he smirked, thinking she was looking at something else. "Hey, not here. Don't want to do it in front of the kids do we?"

"Shut up," she spat and threw him away as she grabbed the file. Opening it she read every detail of it. "A man with a large gun who saved a girl in a red cloak wielding an enormous scythe," she stated and looked at Roman who seemed shocked at those words. "Doesn't sound like she's gone, more like moving towns down to Magnus."

"What's so special about that place?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "What is that place? Never heard of it before."

"Not many people do," she stated, throwing the file at him as she began to walk away. "However, I am not many people."

* * *

Unknown POV

Darkness

All he could see was darkness

It had always been darkness

No, not always

He remembered when there was light. Him and his team, his brothers. He remembered them and now they were im-imprisoned here with him. All of them, trapped. Stolen away and cast into the darkness, never to see the light again, but they were warriors.

He remembered those creatures he slaughtered, those creatures who feared him. The black hides and white bone armor, the same creatures who they feasted upon. The creatures that always challenged him for dominance, roaring and screeching. Then they e- evolv- evolved, yes that was the word, they evolved and became better prey.

He and his brethren hunted them, but they were betrayed, betrayed by their people. They were feared by not only their prey, but their families. They were locked away by the knights, the pathetic weaklings who attacked them as they rested.

He would be free one day and he would seek to hunt once more.

"Must hunt," he spoke in a gruff voice, his voice so ancient and powerful it shook the cell around him.

"Must kill..." he growled once more as he shook the shackles holding him in place.

"Must kill Grimm!" he roared and he could hear his fellow brothers roar in response around him.

* * *

**Done**

**I hope you liked this chapter**

**It seems Roman has discovered our little Rose hiding in Magnus**

**Also, a mysterious force has slumbered for so long, I wonder how long it'll take for it to come out and start hunting again**

**Anyways, rewrote the chapter for you guys**

**Hope you've enjoyed this so far**

**See ya!**

**Lord Revan Flaming, signing off**


	8. Where is It?

**Welcome back viewers**

**Here we are with the next chapter**

**So here we have Torchwick's and co.'s attack on Magnus**

**Time for some action and drama!**

**Oh, and possible gore in this one, I guess**

**So let it begin!**

* * *

Third Person POV

"You better not mess up again," Cinder grumbled under her breath as she watched the small squadron of bullheads Torchwick was taking fly off. The crime lord just rolled his eyes and let out a puff of smoke from his mouth as he removed his cigar on the video feed. "I'll turn you into a really torchwick if you do."

"Leave it to me, the little brat won't know what hit her."

"That promise better be held or I'll call _him_ in," she threatened with a sneer and he rolled his eyes again, sighing in annoyance at her remark.

"Please, a bounty hunter. What could he possibly have that I don't?"

"For one, a bigger gun."

"In battle or in bed?" he questioned lewdly and sarcastically, but she just smirked making him visibly shiver as his confidence shook.

"Pretty sure both," she remarked making him scowl. "Besides, our goals are aligned. He'd come do the job without pay if it meant we found Smith there."

"Who is this Smith anyway? An ex?" the crime lord asked and she scoffed.

"No, this is more... personal," she answered, her mouth now a small frown as she turned and walked away, the clicking and clacking of her heels slowly fading into silence.

* * *

Ruby POV

Several Days Later

"What!" I squealed in joy as Benedict explained the situation to me.

"The town is having an annual festival today in Magnus. It's around this time of year they celebrate the town's founding and ironically it is before the Vytal Tournament. I believe you would want to go there today with Valance and Penny for... well, you know, some childhood fun and stuff like that, etcetera etcetera."

"Yes!" I squealed to answer and he put his hands on his ears to block out my high pitched cries of happiness and joy. "Sorry."

"It's fine, just go," he groaned as he tried to get some sound to go through his deaf ears.

I was about to leave when a question crossed my mind so I turned around looked at him, tilting my head in confusion.

"Aren't you going to celebrate too?"

"No, I'm not one to celebrate with fireworks and ice cream, not anymore at least," he solemnly responded, a sad smile on his face as he looked down.

I kept my head tilted, but after I while I charged out of the room, using my semblance to run up to Penny's room. I arrived at it in under a fourth of a minute. I quickly knocked on the door and several moments later Penny appeared.

"Yes Ruby?" she asked, tilting her head to the side in confusion at my sudden appearance.

"Mr. Smith gave me the day off from training because the town's having a festival!" I explained and she just stared at me in more confusion so I sighed and explained why I was talking to her. "He said I could take you with me to the festival."

"Oh," she said, finally understanding and smiled, "okay Ruby. Let me get my things."

I noticed she wasn't wearing her pink bow or had on the usual black and green stockings she wore. So I waited at the door as she went to get the rest of her clothes. I managed to take a peek into her room to see if anything changed when she oepned the door to come back out.

Unlike my room, which was usual messy from me being the lazy 15-year-old I was she kept her room neat and clean. Her room was like mine, but the sheets were a tannish color. That seemed to be the only difference from mine, that and being cleaner.

"Come on," I said and she followed me as we left the manor.

I got Aeren to drive us into town and soon we were in front of the O'Dehern's Blacksmith's shop. I opened the door to find Mr. O'Dehern behind the counter, trying to machine a piece of metal to make it smoother.

"Hi Mr. O'Dehern," I greeted and he looked up, pulling the protective mask he wore to see me.

"Oh, hello Ruby," he greeted and gestured at the back door. "Valance is getting ready for the festival, I assume Ben let you off of training today?"

"Yeah, says he wants to let me have some childhood fun," I explained and he laughed heartily.

"That's nice of the old buffoon, don't tell him I called him that," he demanded and gestured at the back.

"Go back there and get the lass, she's working on her special fireworks as she calls it."

"Fireworks?" I asked and he started snickering under his breath.

Penny and I exchanged a confused look so we walked over to the back door and pushed it open. We passed by the massive furnace he had in the center of the room and went over to the door that led to the bedrooms of the building where Valance and her dad slept.

When we opened the door we found the wolf faunas tinkering with some fireworks looking stuff.

"Hey guys," she greeted as she noticed us enter.

"Hey Valance, what's that?" I asked, staring at the bags full of different kind of fireworks

"My special fireworks," she said as she finished putting in some dust in one of them.

"Special Fireworks?" I asked and she smiled, then told me to turn off the lights. I obliged and flipped the light switched so only the light from the window shined in. She grabbed a tiny sack that was filled with some stuff. She threw it on the ground and it exploded in a bright flash of different colors.

"They light up!" Penny said happily and I gaped at them.

We soon found out they weren't just normal fireworks because she added a bit of dust and other special ingredients so that they lit up different colors.

"That's awesome!" I said and she smiled widely.

"I knew you'd like 'em, made them myself when I was twelve. My dad helped me out with them," she stated with a smile as she put them carefully in little boxes. I flipped the light switch back on as she put them in a backpack, then slung it on.

"So I'm going to guess you're going to the festival with me?" she asked, tilting her head a bit as she waited for an answer.

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Well you're here and not cutting up Mr. Smith with your giant scythe gun," she stated and I smiled at her words, just the way she said it made her stifle a giggle. "So what do you want to do first?"

"I dunno, this is my first time here, remember," I said and she mouthed an 'o'.

"Well I got some ideas," she said as we left the bedroom.

Soon we were outside after Valance had said goodbye to her dad. We wandered the street until we reached the town square. It was a large open area of the town, the outer edges having shops and stuff while in the center was a big park with this really big tree and a pond or two along with a stream that led down to the river that ran through Magnus.

"There's a competition on best sharpshooter, it's for ages 13 and up," my faunas friend stated and I smiled at that. I had been training with my Precious since I was ten thanks to Uncle Qrow.

"How many competitions are there?" I asked and she started thinking. With what little training I got from Beacon and new training I got from Mr. Smith, I'm sure I could win most of these.

* * *

Many Hours Later

By now the sky had lit up to a bright blue color as people gathered around picnic areas to have lunch. With the money Valance got from her dad we got some seats at a local cafe.

"This isn't as good as Dust in the Wind," I told Valance after swallowing a bit of my sandwich and she perked up as I named the cafe back in Vale.

"What's that? Another cafe?"

"Yeah, it's the one my team, my friend's team, and I would go to when we got breaks and on the weekends," I explained and she smiled as she imagined that.

"Must be nice to live in the big city like Vale."

"It's not that big," I said, but she just scoffed.

Apparently Valance's dad was from a foreign country and moved here to Vytal. He met Valance's mom and so Valance was been born and raised here in Magnus. Her mom died a long time ago and her father had been raising her ever since. It was pretty much luck that she was my age when Benedict found me almost two weeks ago.

"I still can't believe you beat almost all those competitions," I said to Penny who smiled.

"She did say she was a third year student at her academy," Valance said after drinking some soda.

I looked at her, then at Penny, noting the similarities like I always did. If you just looked at them you could almost mistake the resemblance, but if you really looked you could see the difference. The biggest of course was that Penny was human and Valance was a wolf faunas, but you could tell that Penny's hair was a more neon orange and Valance's was fiery. Both their eyes were green, but Penny had emerald green eyes and Valance had clover green eyes.

"Oi, you comparing us again?" Valance asked, her dad's accent coming out.

"Maybe," I replied and she frowned at me while Penny remained her usual smiling self.

I swear, sometimes I mixed her and Aeren up with how oblivious they both were plus they both appeared randomly out of nowhere.

"Ruby, Remnant to Ruby," Valance called, snapping her fingers in my face.

"Huh, oh, sorry," I apologized and she just laughed.

"I swear you doze off to often. I wonder how this'll work when your a huntress?" she said, probably imagining me in a battle with some Beowolves and suddenly stopping to admire how they looked.

Suddenly, before I could make a comeback, there was an explosion in town square. I stood up instantly and my hand went back to where Crescent Rose sat on the back of my waste in its storage form. Over the course of the almost two weeks I had been here I had explored most of Magnus in my free time. I became friends with some of the Hunter teams stationed here to protect Magnus.

"What was that?" Valance cried out in surprise as she looked over to see smoke rising from the outer edge of town. "I think that's the Hunter's Outpost."

_"Oh no," I thought as I stared at the smoke, "that's where Team AHRA is and if it's under attack, that means Magnus is under attack."_

"I'm going over there," I stated and took out Crescent Rose, unfolding it into its full form.

"I will go with you Ruby," Penny stated, her swords coming out of her backpack.

"I'll go warn Mr. Smith," Valance said and started running off to the manor.

I looked at Penny and nodded. I jumped into the street while the town watched. I started running, using my semblance to get to more speed and when I thought I was fast enough I fired Crescent Rose, the recoil kicking me into the air, sending me flying. Penny was running after me, her swords in what I called her 'wing formation' in which they basically made sort of wings on her back kinda like that time she saved my friends and I on the docks when she jumped off the building to fight those White Fang thugs.

* * *

Third Person POV

"Sir," Aeren spoke as she walked into the living room of Metastract Manor.

Benedict sat there, pondering on life, but was cut out of his thoughts as she spoke.

"Yes Aeren?"

"Magnus is under attack sir."

"It's what!"

He jumped out of his seat, a worried expression on his face as he stared at her.

"I have detected explosions and bullheads in Magnus. Cross referencing has allowed me to identify the attackers as Roman Torchwick and the White Fang. Highly impossible, but my scanners are almost never wrong."

"Get the car ready," he stated as he grabbed his weapon in its compact form next to him, strapping it onto his back.

* * *

Ruby POV

Soon we were at the outpost where I watched Herold firing his lady at two Bullheads, shredding the armor on them and making them crash into the square.

"Penny," I called and she appeared behind me.

"Yes Ruby?"

"Do you think you can help him?" I asked and she nodded.

She took a stance as her swords formed the circle that made her laser gun. The familiar emerald green orb of energy appeared and I ran out of the way as she aimed at the bullheads. Firing two lasers, both striking two out of the five ships in the sky sent them falling down as heaps of molten wreckage.

"Hey!" I heard and moved my eyes a bit to see Aiden running over to us.

"What're you doing out here?"

"We saw the explosions, so we came to help," I explained and he nodded, having already seen me use my skills in combat.

"Well your education is about to get cut short, Little Red," a familiar voice said and I paled visibly as I turned around. One of my greatest fears stood there, flanked by a dozen White Fang soldiers, each holding up dust guns at us.

"Roman," I gasped as he strolled forward torwards us.

"Hey there Little Red! Miss me?" he asked with a sly grin making me want to puke.

"As much as I miss Cardin," I murmured, thinking about the bully who drove me out of the school. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh just wanted to see how the festival was going and to get rid of a little obstacle I like to call you!" he growled, his calm, playful nature gone and replaced by an angry one. "You got me in real trouble with my... how should I put this? Associates."

"Associates?" Penny asked and his attention moved over to her.

"Oh great, she's here too. Good thing I brought some heavy guns this time," he stated and snapped his fingers. A bullhead flew in fast overhead and stopped right above the criminal. The bottom opened up and several mechs dropped down as well as more White Fang troops. "I need to thank the Schnee Dust Company for their generous donation of armored Dust powered mechs!"

His voice was barely heard over the roar of the bullhead's engines, but all of us could still make out his signature childish tone.

"Looks like five against one!" a new voice shouted and we turned to see the rest of Team AHRA approach. Art gave a smug smirk as she pulled out her longsword. "Seems like a pretty even match.

"Ooh, a fiesty one. I love it when my victims smack talk," Roman replied and she smirked.

"A fight against a criminal and his compatriots. We will rid this world of scum like you," Ryuu spoke as he pointed his samurai sword at the crime lord.

"A full team of hunters, Little Red, and whoever that one is," Roman said in awe, "I'm definitely going to love this."

Instantly, I jumped at Roman with Crescent Rose, but he grabbed his cane and held it up to block the blade of my Precious. We stood there like that for a moment, blade locked against a cane until Art ran up and slashed at him. The fiery orange haired man jumped back as his men opened fire, but we were saved as Penny jumped in front of us and used Puppeteer to save us.

"Ah ha ha ha!" Herold laughed aloud as a haze of bullets shot from his minigun to shred apart some mechs.

The battle was a long one as we were trapped behind Penny's shield and the White Fang were trapped behind their small force of armored mechs. Team AHRA had managed to find cover behind some rubble and wreckage. I stood behind Penny's shield and whenever she opened up a spot for me to shoot I would fire Crescent Rose, sending high impact shots that shredded the armor of anyone that got hit. I could see Roman behind all of his thugs, yawning like this was boring too him.

That's when I saw it. Right in his hand was a dust crystal, the same kind he used to hit me with when we first met.

"Penny!" I screamed and pushed her down. Everyone around us seemed confused until the dust crystal landed in front of Arthelle.

The team leader jumped back and Penny put up the shield, but when Roman fired his cane it barely held. There was smoke everywhere and I could barely breathe. It stung a bit in my eyes so I put up my cloak's hood. I managed to stumble out of the cloud of black smoke, but instantly a hand gripped my red cloak. I was dragged into the air and I kicked and flailed my legs in an attempt to get whoever was holding me to drop me.

"Got her boss!" I heard a voice shout and the familiar sound of Roman's cane on the pavement made me look up to see him approach.

"Well well well, that was a pretty big fight you guys put up, but I'm afraid this is where it ends," he stated and pointed his cane at my chest, the foot flipping up into a crosshair.

Suddenly, I was dropped down as the White Fang thug holding me dropped me as he realized the explosion would get him too.

"Hey! Get back here you coward!" Roman shouted in anger as the faunas ran into the smoke, probably to his friends. "I need more loyal men. Probably steal more mechs."

I took the opportunity of him grumbling to kick his legs. He dropped down and I kicked him in the face. He grabbed his broken nose that started to bleed and I quickly got to my feet and started running. I heard a clicking noise and a high screech as Roman fired his cane.

The explosion ripped the ground from under me as I was sent flying into the air, pieces of asphalt flying everywhere around me. I landed with a loud thud and I groaned in pain, tears threatening to fall out of my eyes as I held a burnt wound on my side.

This was just like in the forest, when my Precious' blade broke and stabbed me in the leg, but this time it was Roman who did it.

"Now that was very rude Little Red," Roman's angered voice growled as he walked over to me, his cane still pointed at me as he held a furious expression on his face. "To bad you won't get to apologize to me!"

Before he could pull the trigger again there was a loud whirring sound and he turned around to get shot his cane shot out of his hand by none other than Benedict. Valance was some ways off, but I recognized her fiery orange hair back there.

"Are you alright Ruby?" I heard and looked up to see Mr. Smith looking down at me.

I weakly shook my head as I felt the blood continue to leave my body. The veteran hunter scowled in rage as he moved his gaze up at Roman.

"I don't appreciate people hurting my students," he stated with venom in his voice as he pointed Dust Knight in is heavy cannon form at Roman.

"Whoa whoa whoa, I'm just doing my job and this kid decides to butt in and be a hero. It's not my fault she can't see the bad ending every hero gets."

"That's not what you thought back at Beacon," Benedict stated and my eyes widened as I heard those words.

_Roman used to go to Beacon? He was going to be a Hunter? Did he become a Hunter?_

"How did you know that?" Roman growled and Benedict just glared at him. That's when it seemed to click in the criminal's mind. I thought that because a smirk crossed his face as my mentor continued his glare.

"Oh ho ho, is that you Ben? How long has it _Ben_?" he joked, making a pun with Mr. Smith's name. "What? Almost 20 years since I left Beacon?"

"I thought you'd died Roman," Mr. Smith stated as he gripped his weapon tighter. "We all did, every single one of us. You just disappeared off the face of Remnant, now you're here, a dirty criminal scum."

"Hey, it pays the bills," Roman joked and my mentor didn't seem to like his attitude that much.

Suddenly, a blast of red shot past Benedict and he turned his attention to a mech who had snuck up behind Roman to protect him. The orange haired criminal jumped out of the way as the mech opened fire fully, launching a barrage of bullets and dust shots at my mentor.

Mr. Smith managed to outrun the hail of shots fired at him and he took cover behind a destroyed body of a mech.

"Ruby!" I heard and looked to see Penny with her hands on my shoulder. "Ruby? Are you okay?"

"Just dandy Penny," I joked as she helped me up. I immediately keeled over as the pain in my side spiked, sending fire searing through my nerves.

"Ruby!"

"I'm fine Penny, just get us over to Valance," I told her and pointed at the faunas girl watching from a distance.

My strange friend grabbed my legs and carried me bridal style as she walked me over to Valance, the whole time I watched Benedict face off agains the mech, putting in a barrage of dust shots whenever he could. When we arrived some ways off from the battle I saw that Valance wasn't alone. Aeren and Mr. O'Dehern had come too.

Penny set me down due to Mr. O'Dehern's orders so Aeren could heal me. I just lay there, a crumbled heap of black and red as the platinum blonde haired android patched me up. I cringed and cried a bit when she healed my burnt side and wrapped me in bandages.

After that she started healing Penny. It was then that I noticed the large gash on Penny's forehead that leaked blood and the gun shot wound in her leg.

"Penny?" I asked as Aeren pulled a bullet out of her leg.

"Ruby?" she answered as she cried a bit, the pain a bit to much for her.

"Dad," I heard Valance call and he averted his attention from us to Mr. Smith who was fighting Roman.

The mech he had been firing at before was now a pile of scrap metal, a bunch of holes in it from the dust shots he had fired. Right now Benedict was firing a barrage of dust shots at the, apparently former hunter in training while the criminal danced about, dodging the shots and firing his own blasts of dust shots.

"It makes sense," I murmured as I remember Blake and Sun explaining their fight with Roman, how he managed to block most their attacks and fight them off. "He used to go to Beacon, he has hunter training."

Unfortunately for Roman, Benedict completed his training as they switched to close quarters combat. Roman whacked my mentor in the head with his cane, making him fall to his hands and knees. Roman kicked him in the chest, making him fall onto his back, out of breath from the kick that took the air from his lungs.

Right before Roman could shoot him in the chest, Benedict grabbed his heavy cannon and swung it, transforming it into its morning star form on its way to Torchwick's knee. Roman's knee buckled as pain shot through it, I could see it as the purple dust crystal pierced his skin. Benedict head butted him when he bent down to grab his leg.

Shaking off the pain as best he could, my mentor got up on his legs and raised the morning star high, ready to finish him off.

"This is the end for you, Roman Torchwick!" I could hear Benedict shout, a stern, dark expression on his face as venom leaked form his voice.

"Ben! Stop!"

* * *

Third Person POV

"We require reinforcements!" the White Fang soldier shouted through the video feed.

"You took five bullheads, two of which were loaded with state of the art Schnee Dust Company defense mechs, how could you possibly be losing!" Cinder practically screeched as her eyes lit up into small furnaces and her aura flared, turning into an actual fire on her. Luckily, her dress was specificaly tailored to her and designed to be fire resistant.

"We did not anticipate the two hunter teams here!" the soldier cried out over the sound of gunfire.

"Then you should have done your homework," she growled and everyone in the room could see the member of the White Fang visibly flinch at her remark.

"But Ma'a-"

"Do not 'but' me!" she screeched and raised a flaming hand. "If you so desperately need help, then why don't you just simply fight harder!"

"Ma-"

The White Fang member was cut off as several dust shots flew past him and he dropped the camera. Cinder's eyes widened as the view was now directed on Roman who was staring down at a man in a black coat, a large cannon being held in his hands like a minigun.

"It's him," she murmured and suddenly, another video feed appeared and loud metallic thuds could be heard from it.

A dark room was shown as a door slid shut. Lights lit up and revealed a metal room, the metal itself a dark steel color while the figure covered by his shadow was a man with a darker color and aura to him.

"Then the report was correct, he is there," a dark, baritone voice said as an armored being strolled up to stand in front of the new screen, arms crossed. "I am already enroute to Roman's location."

"I was correct then in contacting you before hand, we need the last piece of the artifact," she stated as she stared at his helmet covered head nod in agreement.

* * *

Ruby POV

"Ben! Stop!" Mr. O'Dehern shouted at the top of his lungs. Mr. Smith looked over at us, averting his gaze from the cowering criminal below him. "This isn't what you do!"

"Why should I not kill him!" I heard him roar, his voice cracking a bit.

I realized it right then, this was him back then. This was his warrior personality, that part of him that he kept locked away because it had so many bad memories of being a hunter.

"You're going to scar her for life if you do it!"

Benedict's gaze moved from his friend down to us, Penny, Valance, and I. Wait, who's her... me, that's what he meant. My mentor's gaze stayed put on me for some reason, but only moments later he returned his sights on Roman. The cowering criminal looked up at the veteran hunter, a frightened expression on his face as he looked upon his old classmate.

Slowly, his weapon was lowered till it lay at Mr. Smith's side.

"Leave this place, never return," my mentor sneered at the crime lord. It was almost silent, but we could pick up his rage filled voice dripping venom through the sound of crackling fire and the electric bursts coming from the metal husks of the destroyed mechs.

Roman nodded quickly and got up, scurrying off into the black cloud of smoke that rose from downed bullheads and mechs, searching for a way to get out of this town.

"Looks like we won!" I heard and looked over to see Herold next to me, cheering with the rest of his team.

"You okay Ruby?" Valance asked and I nodded as she helped me sit up next to her so I could watch my mentor make his way towards us.

I could tell he was weary as he walked. The way his legs moved as if there was a great burden on his shoulders or something like that. His coat was singed and so were his pants. There were some open wounds from where the shots that the mech had fired at him had ripped open his clothes and made bleeding wounds. Overall, he was actually looking pretty healthy with some cuts and bruises.

I smiled as he neared us and I could see him smiling as well. Then I heard it, the roar of engines as the cloud of black smoke coming from the combined wreckage that lay on the road parted to reveal a massive ship, larger than any bullhead, but smaller than most cruisers hovering overhead.

"Mr. Smith!" I screamed as a large figure appeared from the smoke, donned in greyish armor, like dark steel, making its way towards my mentor.

It thrust its arms back, the elbows disappearing behind it as the armor shifted so a massive gun appeared on its chest, growing and changing until it gripped two handles on either side of the now enormous cannon on its torso. Its legs stomped on the asphalt and I could see parts of the armor on its legs shift to balance itself while holding its chest cannon.

Benedict was to late to turn around because the moment his head started rotating to the right, the figure's weapon went off. A shell flew from its chest cannon and plowed right through Mr. Smith, ripping through bone and flesh. I could here Valance scream in horror, but all I could do was watch as blood flew.

He fell down with a shout of pain, landing on a knee, holding his shoulder that had a small hole through it where the shell had punched through him. His eyes were wide in shock and pain as he stared down at the ground, but he closed them for a moment and reopened them with renewed resolve in them. Benedict managed to ignore enough pain to turn around and face the armored figure that started walking towards him.

The figure fired his cannon again, this time using an explosive shell that sent Benedict flying back, landing on the car that Benedict and the others probably used to get here. I could see a large scorch mark on my mentor's chest, blood seeping out, freely flowing from the scorched wound on his chest and also from the hole in his shoulder.

I got up, ignoring Valance as she told me to not run over there. I felt a hand grab my cloak, but I twisted myself from whoever's grasp and with the help of my semblance shot straight towards the man who helped me. Suddenly, the armored figure swung his arm, smacking me in the face. My legs flew under me and I slid across the asphalt ground, striking the car with my body.

I groaned in pain, a pale hand coming up to feel the blood running from my broken nose.

"Ruby," I heard a voice weakly groan and I looked up a bit to see Benedict with his head turned towards me, his gaze resting on my battered form. "Run Ruby, run..."

He swung his weapon which was still in his right arm, the same arm with a hole through the shoulder. He roared in pain and rage as the morning star weapon came at the newcomer, but he just bashed it away with his armored forearm. The weapon sailed through the air and landed with a loud thud on the asphalt nearby.

"Ben!" Mr. O'Dehern shouted and started running towards him, but a barrage of gunfire shot at his feet.

He was forced backwards as several bullheads appeared, Roman in one of them.

"Ha ha ha, payback time!" he laughed from the bullhead and they could only glare at him, unable to do anything else or they'd get shot.

I moved my attention from the criminal to the large armored being standing over the man who took me under his wing. He didn't seem to have any interest in me, just in Mr. Smith who lay on the hood on the car, dying.

"I have long waited for this moment Benedict," the figure stated and bent down to stand on one knee while the other rested on the ground. His hands went to balance him on that knee, resting on it as he looked down at Mr. Smith through a sort of visor. "They say patience builds character, I would say that is true."

"Who are you?" Benedict weakly and painfully gasped, staring up with a defeated expression at his probably soon to be killer. "Who sent you?"

"Do you not remember me Benedict? I remember you," the figure said and its helmet began to transform, the sides shifting and opening up so the front visor could slide up to reveal a man's face, tan with silvery black hair and his eyes colored a poisonous green. Patches of his skin were burnt, leaving holes revealing metallic plating that covered the fleshy parts of his face. The rim of the open wounds were tinted black or dark grey where fire probably stopped licking his skin. "As for who sent me, well I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise."

"Deadlock," I heard Benedict growl with what little strength he had left in him. "You died during the Grimm Uprising."

"No Benedict, I survived, but you and my supposed brethren left me there," he growled, pressing a hand on my mentor's chest making him gasp in pain as he touched the open wound.

I tried to make sense of what was happening. Mr. Smith and this guy, Deadlock definitely knew each other. My mentor said the guy died at the Grimm Uprising, but what was that? I tried to remember and it clicked in my head, that was one of the lessons I had with Mr. Smith.

He said it was when a large mass of Grimm started to develop in the northern mountains of Vytal. The horde moved down and killed everything in its path so every hunter in Remnant was sent to stop it. Lots of people died, but the horde was stopped and most of it exterminated.

I always wondered if he fought in the uprising with his team, now I guess he did and so did this other guy, Deadlock who was suppose to be dead.

"How did you survive?" Benedict asked, but Deadlock just pressed his hand against his chest further making him cry out in pain.

"You watched me burn. You did not watch me perish," he growled with hate in his baritone voice. "Now, I will ask the questions and you shall answer." He got up, standing on both armored legs as he stood over him, towering like a hulking mech. "Where is it?"

"Where is what?" he groaned weakly, but Deadlock kicked him with his armored foot.

"No lies!" he roared with rage. "Tell me. Where is the artifact?"

"You search for the artifacts? I knew you wanted to find those monsters, but I never knew you'd go this far for it," Benedict stated with anger in his voice.

_What was the artifact?_

"Silence!" Deadlock hissed and stomped his foot on my mentor's chest making his eyes widen and his voice crack as he screamed in pain. "Answer me!"

After he lifted his foot off of Mr. Smith's chest, my mentor steadied his breathing after painfully gasping for air. Soon he was wheezing, this time more calmly.

"She gave her life to give the artifact to me," he groaned in pain, his voice becoming weaker and more defeated. "I would never let her sacrifice be in vain."

"Yet all that will happen to the artifact is that it will collect dust and be used for nothing. It was meant for a greater purpose!"

"It was built to find those creatures of death and destruction, but its creators knew the error in awakening those beasts," he snapped back at the armored man, a scowl on his face.

They argued back and forth, neither of them paying attention to me. I listened to as much of the conversation as I could and tried to piece it all together.

_"So Benedict hid an artifact some woman gave him and Deadlock wants it to find something, some kind of monsters, probably Grimm, I think... I really wish Pyrrah was here or Weiss or Blake."_

"Where is it!" Deadlock roared one final time, bringing his chest cannon back out and pointing it at him as a final threat.

"Never," was all my mentor could weakly groan in defiance and Deadlock scowled as I watched the barrel of the gun heat up turning a bright orange color as he prepared to fire.

I looked around quickly, realizing the pain I felt earlier was gone now. That's when I noticed the gleaming metal of Dust Knight nearby. With the use of my semblance I moved and grabbed the morning star with both hands, sliding a bit as I stopped. Deadlock's sight moved as he noticed me moving in his peripheral vision, transforming it into its heavy cannon form.

He looked over at me as I pointed Dust Knight at him and his mouth opened in horror as he realized what I was going to do. He grit his teeth and I watched his cannon charge up faster than Dust Knight. Suddenly, before he could shoot me a firework flew into his face and exploded sending bright flashes of red, white, and blue around Deadlock's face. I looked over quickly and saw Valance with an open backpack and lighting another firework.

"My optics!" the armored man roared in anger and pain as he rubbed his hand furiously to get vision back to him.

I turned again and with a well placed shot fired a dust shot that went straight into his cannon. With a loud explosion he was sent flying back, a cloud of smoke billowing from the cannon on his chest.

I turned my attention and started firing a barrage at the bullheads, aiming for Roman in the side. He stumbled back in surprise and as the other bullheads turned to look at the commotion Penny spun her Puppeteer into a circle, preparing to fire her laser. In seconds two green lasers sliced through two of the bullheads and they fell down, crashing into the road or the dirt ground.

The rest of them were quick to follow. Herold started shooting his minigun and caught the engine one of the bullheads. Ryuu connected samurai swords and pulled back a part of the handle, transforming it into a repeating crossbow as more parts converged into handle and magazine. He fired along with Aiden and Art, the three of them taking down another two more ships. The remaining bullhead, Roman's turned and began to flee, The fiery orange haired criminal waving his cane around with an angry expression etched on his face.

"Till next time Benedict," I heard and looked over at the downed Deadlock, his cannon broken a bit, parts of it hanging loose or blown off. He managed to manually collapse it back into his armor, then thrust his arms forward making all the armor that created the cannon turn into two large hooks on either hand. "If there is a next time."

He laughed maniacally and swung his arm, the hook on it flying off his armored forearm and grabbed onto his ship. He yanked his arm back and the chain that connected the hook to his arm started pulling him up to his ship. He quickly got in through a hatch on top of the ship.

The engines on it roared loudly as it turned around and shot forward into the sky with the remaining bullheads of Roman's attack force.

"Ben!" I heard and turned to see Mr. O'Dehern rush over. "Aeren! Heal him!"

The android servant quickly ran over, her eyes wide as she examined her master's bloody and burnt body. I tried to look at him, but when my eyes gazed upon his wounds I threw up a bit in my mouth. The rim of the wounds were lined with dead, black skin while the inside was blood red or soot black. I managed to swallow the bile since I had seen wounds like this at Beacon in first aid class where they taught us to close open wounds and stuff. I threw up the first few times, but I eventually got used to the sight of pink and black flesh with blood.

Mr. Smith's eyes kept opening and closing as he began to lose consciousness. I heard someone gagging and turned around to see Penny rubbing Valance's back as she threw up, not able to hold her stomach at seeing an open wound like this.

"His wounds are to severe for my healing practices," Aeren sheepishly confessed, lowering her head in shame as she realized she could do nothing to heal him.

"Call an ambulance!" Ranulf shouted at the hunter teams and one of them immediately pulled out their scroll.

As the red lights blared when the red and white truck stopped next to us, I just stood there frozen, staring at my mentor's broken form. I could tell he was using that last bit of his strength to keep his eyes open, but even now he could only see through tiny slits.

Steel colored irises looked to the side, locking with my silver ones. His head shifted so he could look at me. His mouth hung open slightly, letting him breathe. Over the loud blaring sounds of the ambulance's sirens and people shouting to help them lift Benedict onto a stretcher I could here him breathing, deep, heavy breaths full of pain and weariness.

Now I know what he meant by seeing things as a hunter. Seeing friends broken and beaten, cut open and gutted, or bloody and dying. He had watched his teammate die in the arms of his wife, he watched his teammates berate him with insults and glare at him, and he watched his wife leave with the child he helped raise.

I could only think about what could happen to me during my time as a huntress, if I ever got to be one. Thoughts and images crossed my mind, holding Yang's bloody body, watching Jaune or Blake get cut down, seeing Nora or Ren get slaughtered, or even any of my friends holding my dying form.

I shivered as my skin turned a pale white color. It was then that I snapped into reality when I realized that they had moved Benedict. I rushed over to the back of the ambulance before they closed the doors. Valance's dad was arguing with a doctor about helping Mr. Smith.

"What do you mean he's not going to stay here?" the wolf faunas growled, literally growled with the canine ferocity in his bloodline.

"Our hospital isn't suited for injuries this severe, we can't heal him here. We're taking him to the hospital in Vale to heal there, they have the healers needed for these kind of wounds."

"You're going to Vale!" I interrupted and they looked down at me.

"Ruby," Ranulf gasped as he saw me, "are you alright?"

I ignored him and moved up a bit so I was in front of the doctor.

"You're going to Vale?"

"Yeah kid, we can't heal him here," the doctor explained and so I jumped up so I could stand on the edge of the back of the ambulance.

"I'm coming too."

"No you're not," Mr. O'Dehern stated, grabbing my arm. "Ben wouldn't like you wandering around a big city like Vale while he's unconscious."

"I was born in Vale, I can take care of myself in my hometown," I snapped, wanting to be with the man who took me in while he healed.

"Rub-"

He was cut off as the doctor butted in, his voice angry and annoyed.

"We don't have much time, he's losing a lot of blood and our current healing will keep him stable for so long."

"Please sir," I pleaded and he sighed.

"Go, he needs someone to help him keep his eyes open," he stated solemnly, taking a couple steps back. "I'll bring Valance to visit some times."

"Ruby!" I heard and turned to see Penny push past the two teams of hunters and the small crowd that had gathered around us. "You're going back to Vale?"

"I have to stay with Mr. Smith," I explained and she put on a determined expression, nodding her head.

"I'm coming with you," she stated and I nodded back with a smile.

"Then get in kid, we don't have much time!" the doctor practically screamed at us and the ginger haired girl jumped in with me.

"Guess I'm not going to shoot fireworks today," I told Valance and she smiled sadly at me.

I waved at Valance and she waved back, tears slowly running down her face. Aeren stood there, hands behind her back once more in her respectful nature. I knew she'd keep the manor clean and neat as long as Benedict was in the hospital in Vale. The doors slammed shut with a loud bang and the ambulance jolted as the driver drove us up the road to Vale.

Several hours passed as I stared at the healers making glyphs above Benedict, using healing spells to keep the blood from flowing freely and to keep his heartbeat steady. The combined efforts of tech, dust, and spells kept Mr. Smith alive for the moment, but I don't know for how long.

I felt a blanket wrap itself around me and turned to see another healer next to me, hands holding a blanket on me.

"Get some rest little one," the healer suggested, "You won't be able to watch over him in Vale if you're to tired."

"Thanks," I drowsily answered, finally feeling the effects of drowsiness take over my petite form. My head landed on Penny's lap who herself had fallen asleep, her head resting on her shoulder and on the metal wall behind us. Soon enough I was asleep and dreaming about Mr. Smith being fit and fine and standing over Deadlock's battered form.

* * *

Third Person POV

It was a quiet night in Vale as Jaune Arc walked the sidewalks. He had started doing this a couple nights ago, getting special permission from Ozpin to leave school and walk around Vale. He didn't want to be at Beacon at the moment, the memories of Ruby still lingering in every hall, in every classroom, and especially in the dorm room across from his team's.

The sound of sirens caught his attention and he turned his head to watch an ambulance drive past him into the parking lot of a hospital, a bunch of doctors and healers helping carry out a middle aged man in a stretcher, his chest blasted open revealing muscle and burnt flesh.

Jaune stared for several moments as they rushed the man into the hospital. He turned his head, knowing it was none of his business of what happened to that man. However, only several minutes later he looked back and his eyes widened as he saw a woman, probably a healer carrying a girl in a red cloak.

He rubbed his eyes, but when he let go the healer was no longer carrying a red cloaked girl. He sighed, thinking he was starting to hallucinate, but had he kept looking he would have seen Ruby Rose jump out of the arms of the healer to run after her dying mentor.

* * *

**Done**

**I hope you liked this chapter**

**Sorry for the bit of gore and stuff**

**It was an idea that popped in my head**

**Now here we are, back in Vale**

**The Vytal Tournament draws closer and closer as the days go by**

**Benedict is dying and Ruby is there to comfort him in his last moments, but will this be his last moments?**

**Only the next chapter will tell**

**Sincerely,  
Lord Revan Flame**


	9. Calm your soul

**Hello viewers**

**Welcome back to the best RWBY story ever!**

**Not really the best**

**Plenty of other ones that are way better than mine**

**Definitely a lot better**

**But I appreciate all your love and support so don't think I've forsaken you**

**So review time**

**It would seem that Benedict is on the edge of life and near the plummet to death**

**Ruby is watching, hoping he survives while Penny stands with her**

**Jaune and co. are still in depression from Ruby's death, why wouldn't they be?**

**Finally, Cinder and her associates continue their search for the artifact**

**But pretell, what is this artifact and what importance does it truly hold?**

**Let's see if we can find out in this chapter or perhaps it will be in the next**

**or the next**

**Maybe the one after that**

**Let's just see shall we?**

* * *

Ruby POV

"Ruby?" a faint voice spoke and I nuzzled my head into my hands a bit more as my cloak covered my body like a blanket. "Ruby, please wake up."

I groaned at the voice and tossed and turned a bit, but everything felt uncomfortable.

"Ruby, wake up."

I groaned again and this time gave in, opening my eyes. I immediately regret my decision as the light burned my eyes making me squint and allowing some tears to fall out of my eyes in pain.

"Ruby?"

I looked up to see Penny in the seat next to me, legs crossed in criss cross applesauce as she stared at me.

"Hi Penny," I cautiously greeted. Where was I? "Um, what are you doing there?"

"You don't remember?" she asked, tilting her head to the side a bit in confusion and curiosity.

"Remember what?" I asked and she pointed at the double doors in front of us.

Then it all came back, Roman attacking Magnus, us stopping him, Deadlock appearing and torturing Benedict for information, and then the trip here to Vale to get him medical treatment.

"Mr. Smith," I gasped and jumped off the chairs I had been sleeping on. "Is he alright!"

"I don't know," Penny stated as she stared at me. "We've only been here for several hours and the doctors haven't left the room yet.

We stared at the double doors with worry and I couldn't handle sitting there. I paced around, moving back and forth, left and right, twirling around to pace, and I even used my semblance to pace ten times faster. I played around with Crescent Rose, taking my Precious apart and putting it back together. I wasn't born to sight tight and watch from a distance, I was put in this world to act.

Finally, an hour or two later the doctors came out and I rushed to one of them.

"Is he okay?" I asked and he nodded.

"Well from what we've observed and the reports of what he went through, we've identified two holes blown in him. One rather large one in his right shoulder that has obliterated his shoulder blade, most of the bone, and also a lot of the muscle. The second hole is in his chest, a couple millimeters in his spinal cord. He's slightly paralyzed from that wound, but we've managed to heal and repair most of the wound. It would be near impossible to survive something like this, but his aura is strong has kept him sustained," the doctor explained and my eyes widened.

"So did you save him?"

"We managed to stabilize him completely, but his condition is still severe. We've hooked him up to several healing units and he'll need regular doses of healing dust and healing spells, however, the severity of his wounds have also rendered him in a comatose state. With our recent advancements in healing, we should be able to bring him to a healthy state, enough that he'll be able to walk once more when he finally wakes up," the doctor explained and I nodded furiously.

"So when do you think he'll wake up?"

"Perhaps a week, a month, a year, no one can tell. I'd be willing to bet in a while, I've seen enough comatose patients to know it will take a long time."

"C-can I see him?"

"Not right now sweetie, but you can when we move him to a room."

I didn't acknowledge most of that, just that I could see him later. As time passed, Penny and I waited in the lobby, but soon a woman came to lead us to the room Mr. Smith was in. We followed her and came to a pretty standard hospital room, but a lot of the space around the bed my mentor was laying in had medical equipment and stuff filling it. The two holes in him were cleansed showing healthy pink flesh with a red glow above them meaning healing dust was being used to regrow and heal the muscles and bone.

Both of us stared at his peaceful form until a nurse came in, snapping us back into reality. She refilled one of the machines giving him healing dust so we left the room and out onto the streets of Vale.

"Come on Penny, let's go have lunch," I said, noticing the sun was up, high in the light blue sky.

We sat at Dust in the Wind, eating sandwiches and drinking some lemonade as we waited for Mr. Smith's recovery.

"Ruby?"

I looked up to see Penny looking at me curiously.

"Yes Penny?"

"How are you so calm?"

"Wha-what do you mean?"

"Most people what be in emotional turmoil at this moment. You however are very calm. Why?"

"Well I'm really in shock and not very calm," I explained as I looked down. "I can't stop worrying about Mr. Smith and then about what happened to me."

"Then why are you not crying or weeping?"

"Well because he taught me not too. Mr. Smith taught me how to keep a calm face like a leader should so they're not freaking out and stuff."

"Is that possible?"

"Well he says Prof. Ozpin does it all the time."

"That is sensational!" she stated out loud and people looked over at us in confusion and annoyance.

I nervously laughed while Penny looked around confused. I was burning red so we finished our lunch and left the café to get back to the hospital.

"When did he teach you how to keep calm?"

"Well, it was the night after I met Valance..."

* * *

Third Person POV

Several Weeks Ago

It had been long since Benedict had, had a proper slumber, one, long, and pleasant sleep he could just rest in. That wonderful, wonderful sleep was interrupted by whimpering and his instincts took over. He kicked off the sheets on his bed and rolled off onto his feet.

His hand grabbed the compact, backpack form of Dust Knight, his weapon and transformed it into its heavy cannon form. He searched his room, looking for the noise when he realized it was coming from the door. He opened it and slowly walked down the hall, searching for the source of disturbance that had interrupted his slumber.

Soon his search took him to a door in a hallway on the second floor like where his was, however, this door seemed different to him. So familiar, yet so... different. It irked him, it irked him to not know why. He had always been a curious person and now that annoying, frustrating feeling that remained in the back of his head was started to pound on his mind, urging him to investigate why he seemed to know and not know this door.

Suddenly, the whimpering noise returned to his ears right before it turned into a scream. He grabbed the handle and turned a second before his shoulder smashed against the door, sending it swinging into the wall as he charged in. He looked around and saw the writhing form of Ruby Rose as she rolled around in bed, hugging her chest as she held a painful expression on her face.

With a worried look he ran to her bedside, dropping the weapon he carried in the process. As the sound of the heavy cannon resounding through the entire house rang, he grabbed her shoulder and shook her, attempting to awaken the girl he had taken in.

Right before the blade came down on her neck, Ruby Rose felt the ground shake around her and a voice shouting into her ears. She blinked and before she new it, the clearing painted with her blood was replaced with a dark room, a tall man standing over her, shouting her name.

"Ruby!" he shouted again and her eyes fully snapped open.

Her hands came up and grabbed the mask she wore in her sleep and She stared at him and blushed as she felt embarrassment and shame wash over her.

"Oh, good you're awake," the veteran hunter sighed in relief and she nodded slowly, still as red as her cloak which was folded neatly on the dresser. "What were you dreaming about that you were whimpering, crying, and screaming?"

"Well, um... I was dreaming about..." she trailed off, trying to find a lie to conceal the nightmare she had, had in which she relived the memory of her betrayal. "I was dreaming about leaving Beacon."

He seemed to buy the lie or at least accepted it so the young girl sighed.

"Well, whatever the case, you're up now and I suppose you still don't want to tell me why you left?"

She shook her head, denying him the story he craved to know. He nodded slowly as he sighed in defeat before kneeling down to get to her level as she lay in bed.

"I see, but still you need to control those emotions."

"Control them? How do I control so much pain and stuff!"

"Don't lock them up, accept them. That's the folly of humans and faunas, we all think that we can control things, we can't control anything. We can only accept pain and let it keep flowing until it's a dull sense in the back of our head that we look at and just accept our fate."

I thought on that and nodded slowly as I stared down.

"B-but how do I just accept it?"

"It will take time, but eventually you can make peace with your painful memory as I have mine."

I stared at him and nodded again before he asked another question.

"Well, tell me. Are you okay?"

"Y-yes," she stuttered, before shaking off the overwhelming feeling of fear that covered her like a blanket. "Yes, I'm perfectly fine."

"Very well," he spoke as their eyes remained fixed on each other's. "Now, do you need anything?"

She thought about that, did she need anything? She could be really mean and ask for cookies and milk, but she didn't want to be rude to the man who took her in. Maybe a bed time story, yeah... well that would be awkward, but when ever mom, dad, or Yang told her one she would be out of it.

"Um... could I get a story?"

He blinked. That was all he did after she asked, just blinked. She blushed heavily again as he stared at her, a shocked expression etched on his face, slowly becoming more and more visible.

"A story? You want me to tell you a story?"

"Can you?"

"Well, I suppose," Benedict awkwardly replied, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment at the situation. "What kind of story do you want?"

"Well, what do you got?" she chirped and he started thinking of the many tales and stories of him, the people he knew, and those stories he had heard of.

"I could tell you about my team and I, the Great War, me before I became a Hunter, or some stories my friends back then told me about."

Ruby pondered on that, thinking about the options she had. Either he spoke about him and his team, the Great War between Faunas and Humans, his childhood, or some other stuff.

"I want to hear about your team!" she stated loudly and he cringed at the sudden increase in volume. "Oh, sorry."

"It's fine," he replied and coughed to clear his throat of anything that had slipped down it during his sleep. "Well, if I'm going to tell you about our amazing adventures I might as well start from the beginning."

***Flashback***

"Ha ha ha ha ha!" a young Benedict laughed with heartiness and a lot of confidence as he flew through the air.

As he neared the ground, he sent his aura to his legs, increasing their resilience as he landed in the Emerald Forest. A crater was formed in the ground when he landed in the Grimm infested forest next to Beacon. Dust and dirt fell down around him as he stood up.

Shaking the dirt off of him, he grabbed the metallic backpack on his back, transforming it into a heavy cannon that he held with both hands like a kind of minigun. Pointing it around as he searched for white bone plating covered in red markings or black hides, he scanned the area with his eyes, hoping to find any creatures of Grimm waiting to pounce on him.

After a quick search, he chose the direction he believed was north and began charging through the forest like a Boarbatusk. As he continued his trek to the ancient ruins, he began to think of what partner he'd have.

"Hopefully I get that scythe guy, Qrow Rode, now wait, Rose, yeah, Qrow Rose. Him or the other guys," he murmured under his breath. He began recounting names, thinking about those other people in the first years with him.

William Arc, Trenton Winchester, Jian Xiao Long.

All the names ran off in his head before he switched to the opposite gender which brought him to the thought of a girlfriend.

"Well that one chick is cute, what was her name again? Naomi?" he murmured once more, but before he could think anymore on which girl he would find attractive the most, a scream took him out of his thoughts.

In seconds he was on the ground, a porcelain form on top of him. He groaned as he looked up and his steel grey eyes locked onto amethyst purple ones. Both him and the girl on top of him blushed as they struggled to untangle their limbs.

"Sorry," she apologized as the she helped him up.

"No, I should've seen where I was going."

"I don't think so, I might not have had a soft landing like this one if you didn't," she joked and he laughed as he grabbed Dust Knight off the ground.

"So, what's your name?" he asked, but she stuck her tongue out.

"Not telling until you tell."

"Why not?"

"Well I can't trust you."

"We're both human!"

"So, we just met," she stated with a stern turn of her head like some kind of prideful girl thinking she was right, which she probably was.

"Ugh," he groaned as he started to charge once more.

"H-hey!" she shouted and ran after him into the forest.

"What!" he shouted back in response as he looked back at the girl trailing behind him.

A cloak billowed behind her, but he couldn't tell the color because of the dim light cast by the shade of the trees and the fact that he was more focused on her angry face now.

"Wait up!" she said in frustration and they stopped in a clearing.

"What do you want?" he growled as he glared at the girl.

"What's with the sudden dislike. Just wanted to tell you to wait up partner."

"Partner? I'm not your partner!"

"Oh really? I'm pretty sure that's what the headmaster said," she spoke in a sing song voice which just fed his growing frustration.

Usually being a naïve boy, he'd be blushing furiously at the thought of talking to a girl. Right now he should be as red as a rose, but instead he was as red as the blood in his veins as he and the girl argued.

"No, the headmaster said that the first person we see in the forest is our partne-"

He stopped, his eyes widening, finger pointing at her dropping as did his mouth. She smirked, giving off a prideful pose as she crossed her arms and stared at the defeated boy in front of her.

Now realizing he was stuck with this, this... he didn't know what she was for the next four years, he gave in and looked her over to see if he could tell what she was like other than an annoying imbecile that irked him.

She wore a black and grey corset with a red rimming and a crimson thread tightening it around a white long sleeve shirt she wore underneath. A black combat skirt circled around her legs, coming to an end at either of her legs to leave a gap in between her leg to show another skirt, this one red and shorter, coming to about mid thigh length. Dark red stockings reached up to below her knee and black combat boots with red rimming came up to about three fourths the size of the stockings.

Two dual swords were hooked to a belt that was wrapped around her waist, both of them intricately designed. They were single edged with the hilt having one side going up behind the blade and the other going down to make a sort of guard for the hand that would grip the handle. The blade was either tinted red or white with the sharp edge kept a steel grey. The hilt was untouched, but a crystal shaped like a triangle and tinted red or white was set into it. The hilts were wrapped in crimson red or star white cloth for a more comfortable handle.

The swords were like opposites, white and red.

"Hey, eyes up here," he heard and his gaze traveled back up to the blushing face of his partner.

"Sorry, just observing the weapons," he apologized, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"Yeah, well I was doing about the same," she said, pointing at the heavy cannon he loosely held in his right hand, the barrel end pointed at the ground since he wasn't in a combat stance. "So what is it?"

"Oh, it's a heavy repeating cannon with rapid fire and mortar shot functions along with the ability to transform into a morning star with dust blades. I've taken to calling it Dust Knight."

"Nice," she complimented and pulled out her dual swords, letting him have a better look at them. "I call these Fire and Ice."

"Red and white, Fire and Ice. That's cool," Benedict replied and she blushed from the praise.

"Yeah well I made these myself. My dad's a blacksmith at Signal."

"Same for me, I mean I made my own weapon. My dad's a bit of an a-hole sometimes."

"Bad childhood?"

"Bad life till I came here," he replied and she mouthed an 'o'.

"So I guess we should get moving," his partner stated and he nodded in response.

About an hour or two later they were at the ruins and their mouths dropped when they saw a pack of Beowolves getting annihilated by a team of two. A young man wielding what looked like a handle with a glowing blade that was colored an emerald green and a small girl wearing a sort of high tech armor that almost made her look like the pilot of a mech suit.

Before a Beowolf could pounce on the young man, a sword impaled itself into its head. He turned in time to see a girl, not his partner run over and grab the swords, slashing at a second Beowolf.

"Thanks for the save," the silver haired young man thanked as he cut down another Grimm as they backed up to stand back to back.

"Your welcome," she replied as she blocked a swipe from a Beowolf and stabbed both blades into its chest, ending it.

Suddenly, a scream rang out as a Beowolf pounced onto the back of the small girl, holding her down as another two charged towards her downed form. Fear was evident in her eyes, but it was replaced quickly with awe as a tall man in a black coat swung a morning star with large dorsal fin like appendages made of dust crystals on it at the creatures of Grimm.

The first one, the one on top of her was caught in the head and died as its skulled was cracked open. The next was struck by his morning star and its chest collapsed by the sheer force and the cuts made it leak black blood. Quickly transforming the close quarters weapon into its heavy cannon form, he fired a mortar shot and blew open the Beowolve's head.

"Th-thanks," she sheepishly spoke and he smiled as he helped her up.

"Nice armor," he remarked as he slapped his hand on the metal plating of her armored form, only to hold it in pain as they walked to the two other students of their first year class.

"So I guess we're teaming up?" Benedict asked and they all nodded.

"Come on," the silver haired guy spoke and grabbed a golden king chess piece.

Benedict's partner grabbed a golden queen chess piece next and both teams nodded.

"So I suppose we should introduce?" the silver haired guy spoke. "I am Ozpin."

"Naomi," the other girl introduced as she retracted her armor into a small backpack.

"Benedict."

"I'm-"

***Flashback End***

The veteran hunter as interrupted as Ruby gave a snore, having fallen asleep already. He sighed with a chuckle and got up, grabbing Dust Knight off the ground. After setting the blanket on the girl's sleeping form her smiled as she curled up into a ball, no longer whimpering or crying.

He left the room and closed the door behind him, smiling.

* * *

Ruby POV

Present

"That's how he got me to stop having nightmares and keep my emotions at bay," I explained to Penny and she stared, wide eyed as we entered the hospital.

Time seemed to fly by as fast as a Nevermore and I was sitting in a chair at Mr. Smith's bedside. I watched his chest steadily slowly rise up and down, staggering a bit sometimes, but still going. The thing about healing dust was that it could easily heal almost anything, it just mannered on how someone used it.

Aeren was an expert healer so she could heal all my wounds in a matter of two days, then the rest of the week would be spent getting used to the new, healed body I got. For Benedict, he'd probably feel really weird with his new shoulder and chest.

Right now, a blanket was set on him so I didn't have to see his innards which I was oh so thankful for.

"Well Ben, I think I should tell you a story," I whispered in his ear as he slept and started recounting my trip through the Emerald Forest, not even flinching or crying when I remembered Weiss or Pyrrha.

* * *

Third Person POV

"You let him get away!" Cinder screeched as placed two flaming hands on the table, quickly melting the metal.

Torchwick quickly brought up his arms as to not singe them on the metal table while everyone else was smart enough to not have any part of them touching it. Deadlock scowled at her, poisonous green optics glowing with rage.

"Two shots, one crippling, the other a possible mortal wound. He will not be walking anytime soon."

"Or talking, we will never find his pieces of the artifact!"

"On the contrary, we found the most peculiar thing," Torchwick smiled as he opened up his scroll to show a picture of Ruby in a hospital. "Our spies have discovered Little Red is his student. We can use her to get to him when he wakes up."

"If he does," Emerald, one of Cinder's elite warriors spoke up. "Those wounds will most likely leave him in a coma once the healing process is over. Only something such as a shock would bring him back to our world."

"And the little one's screams will awaken him when I squeeze he life out of her," Deadlock growled as he clenched his hand into a fist in front of him, emphasizing his point.

"Alright then, we'll get to kill Little Red and get our artifacts!" Roman cheered with a smile while everyone sighed, face-palming or pinching the bridge of their nose. "Now, I have a proposition to all of you."

"Proposition?" Mercury, another of Cinder's elite warriors questioned in curiosity and distrust. "What would this proposition be?"

"You've all heard of Alpha? Have you not?" he asked and they all nodded, remembering the news reports of the rising Faunas political leader.

It was several years ago, when they were all kids playing with toys when he worked in the mines of the Schnee Dust Company. It was when they were teenagers in school did he take up arms and strode into the illegal gladiatorial arenas of Rawnk, a city still feeling the aftermath of the Great War in Vytal. Now, he was a political leader for the Faunas, wanting rights for Faunas and calling himself their leader.

There were rumors spreading that he had started the White Fang, that he was their true leader, but they were just rumors, we're they?

"What does Alpha have to do with our... conquest?"

"I have everything to do with it!" a malevolent, low voice bellowed and they all turned to see a tall, muscular man in a set of armor colored steel grey and blood red along with purple markings along it.

He wore a scowl as he walked forward, towards the fiery goddess.

"Ah, Alpha. I was unaware you were joining us," she stated with venom dripping from her voice.

"Many do not know of where I spend my time away from he cameras," he spoke, taking a side at the table.

It was no doubt that they all felt fear the moment he boomed his voice. This man had stepped into the gladiatorial arena and literally dismembered his foes, ripping apart other gladiators and Grimm alike. His choice of weaponry was a war axe that could shift into a dust rifle. His skill in combat near equalized a top notch Hunter, however his lack in such training about hindered his abilities, about.

"Lord Alpha, such an honor," Deadlock spoke with sarcasm and Alpha scowled once more.

"Speak unless spoken too bounty hunter," the gladiator sneered and everyone turned their heads to eye the two.

"You know each other?" Torchwick asked and they nodded.

"I once served under this man in the Great War. The government recruited him for his-"

"Vicious cunning and ruthless nature," Alpha finished with arrogant pride. "They say that half-breeds are useless and ineffective, I have proven them wrong."

It was no secret that the entire world knew Alpha was a half-breed, half human and half faunas. Taken from his family and enslaved under the Schnee Family, he wanted nothing more than to tear out their hearts. Though he wished not to end humans as so many Faunas wanted, only a few knew of his true intentions. Those few stood at the table along with him.

"My brethren will stand with me, the White Fang will rise up and wipe out all resistance met against my will," he spoke and all nodded.

"I suppose Torchwick has already told you everything you need to know about our mission?"

"Indeed, these artifacts will aid us in our conquest."

"Very good," Cinder remarked and turned to leave. "Now all we need is my intellect, Roman's resources, your armies, and Deadlock's skills."

"Let this meeting of shadows, come to an end," Alpha spoke and left with his guards as well as the rest of the villains.

* * *

Beacon Academy

"Hit me!" Yang shouted as Cardin came at her.

He swung his mace, but she grabbed it before it could hit her and punched him square in the chest, the attack augmented by Ember Celica. He flew back and landed on the pile made up of his team. They were all moaning and groaning in pain, sporting bruises and bleeding cuts.

Yang huffed in anger, the rage in her still not calmed by the fight. All that sadness she had been feeling had turned into rage and as a child, she had found punching almost anything helped with rage. Right now, however, she was questioning her idea of getting rid of anger.

She stormed back to her dorm room, slamming the door open and shut, thankful that her 'team leader' wasn't there since she was studying in the library with Weiss. Unfortunately, her partner had been sleeping and now was on the ground after jumping into the air, then falling onto the ground.

"Thanks Yang," she sarcastically spoke, but wasn't met with any snarky remark so she looked up and watched the blonde brawler pace back and forth, retracting and activating her weapon over and over again in an attempt to rid herself of this overwhelming feeling of rage. "Are you alright?"

"No!" she screeched, throwing her hands into the air. "Yesterday I was still moping around and now I want to punch everything!"

"I would suggest targeting Roxanne rather than me," Blake remarked and she grinned.

"Hey guys, what's u-"

Jaune was cut off by a fist covered in yellow armor plating. When he gained his conscience back he was in the infirmary with the nurse holding her hands over them as healing dust was being used to fix his face.

"Wha happen?" he said, his words slurred and his mind drowsy from the anesthetics.

"Yang socked you!" Nora cheerfully explained and Ren sighed.

"She's in an angry mood today," his calm teammate spoke.

"I talked to her, she said she was sorry," Pyrrha said as she rubbed his arm to ease some of the pain there.

"Where's sha nooow?" Jaune slurred and they all looked at each other.

"Well..."

On the other side of Beacon, Roxanne was dragging Weiss with her as they ran from the blonde brawler.

"Come here Rust, I just want to beat you until candy comes out!" Yang shouted as the students parted way for her.

"Ms. Xiao Long!" a voice roared and she turned to look down the hall at Prof. Ozpin.

He glared at her from under his glasses, emerald eyes gleaming with authority. He walked over and grabbed her by her ear, dragging her with him up into his office.

"Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow," she yelped over and over again as the students stared.

The trip felt like forever as he forced her to follow him up the stairs to the top of the clock tower. She had been here more than a few times in the past weeks. Roxanne had teased her on being in trouble while Weiss just got angry she was causing trouble. The real truth was that Ozpin was helping her heal as much as she was helping him heal.

His emotional breakdown had been quelled and he had put on his near stoic mask once more, addressing the student body with a small smile and an intelligent gaze. Yang's grades had been given a boost up after her many conversations with the headmaster having been told of his and her mother's exploits and reviving the dream of Yang becoming a huntress like Summer.

Soon they had arrived and he let his grip on her ear go so she could massage the burning red ear as he sat down behind his desk.

"Ms. Xiao Long-"

"Don't Ms. Xiao Long me Ozpin!" she sneered and slammed her fist on the glass desk, surprisingly it held. "And don't give me that BS that Ruby would want me to participate in the tournament. I would rather be at her grave crying now then fighting training dummies!"

"Then go."

"No I'm going to- Wait, what?" she asked in shock.

"Go, weep at her grave if it will calm you. It is one thing to fight with brute strength and superior intellect. It is a completely different thing to be in emotional turmoil while doing so. Rage seems to fuel your semblance, but to what extent would it help you? Hm?"

"Well..." she trailed off, her mind now calmer as she tried to counter his comment. "It would strengthen me, make my flames hotter."

"And quite possibly cause you to slaughter those you believe responsible for your sister's death and all those who disgrace it."

She blinked as he stared at her, now looking above the rim of his glasses at the blonde haired brute.

"We all feel the pain of losing Ruby, you most of all. However, there are others who share your pain," he stated and opened up a scroll to show Jaune holding a photo of Ruby and him when they had gone out to Vale with the rest of their team several days before the mission. He was sitting outside with his lunch, completely hidden, or so he thought.

"What's this?" Yang curiously asked as she stared at the image. "Is that Jaune holding a photo of my little sis?"

"Yes, surely you, with your romantic expertise can put the pieces together."

"He... liked my sister. He liked my sister!" she roared, but calmed down realizing how much pain he must've been feeling when she was gone. "He liked my sister."

"Yes and now to escape the pain of loss he has begun dating Ms. Nikos."

"So that's how they got together," she murmured, but scrunched her eyebrows. "Wait, how do you know all of this?"

"I am the headmaster of Beacon, no secrets can be hidden from me."

"Really, any secrets on lady killer, er Jaune?"

"He illegally came here," Ozpin answered and Yang's mouth dropped before she started cracking up.

"Vomet Boy faked his scholarships!" she laughed out loud and fell onto the floor, laughing, but then stopped. "Wait, why did you let them know if they were fake?"

"I could tell they were fake, every scholarship and document goes by me here. Most believe I look for the strongest, the fittest, the most intelligent, and the most courageous. They're wrong, I look for strong spirits and unbreakable will. Jaune Arc comes from a line of powerful knights going back to the first generation of hunters in prehistoric Remnant," he explained as Yang watched and listened in awe. "Every single member of his family has proven unbreakable in their loyalty and willpower. I brought your sister, Ruby Rose up two years because her mother was strong willed and had a good heart while her father always chose to benefit the people than himself."

"So what about me?"

Ozpin smiled warmly at her, the cold atmosphere surrounding them now gone as they talked about the secrets of Beacon.

"You are a special case. You have a flamboyant nature, crush on most men, and have a pretty arrogant nature."

She turned red out of embarrassment as she stared down in shame.

"However, your commitment and loyalty to your sister show how much you value friends and family. Such loyalty most would call a fatal flaw, I would call it strength of the soul."

"Thanks sir," she replied, but his warm smile was replaced with a cold and calculating frown.

"There is an issue I wish to speak to you of as well," he spoke up. "One that concerns the remains of your sister."

"What?" she asked, hopeful they had found something to bury.

"I have cross referenced certain data across my sources and discovered hundreds of different people of the description you gave me of the thief that stole Ruby Rose's possessions. Only one stood out."

"One?"

"Yes, an assassin android built many years prior to my enlistment to Beacon. It was created by a terrorist organization, a single robotic servant amongst thousands. As the reports go, it was destroyed and harvested for parts, however the head went missing, presumably sold on the black market," he explained as his legs brought him up to stand and soon he was standing at the balcony, over watching the students below talk and play. "I believe someone or perhaps many people are planning something out there, in the shadows."

"What would they get from taking my little sis' stuff?"

"They were the tools of a huntress were they not? Even if she was in training, it was a remarkable piece of weaponry, developed by a prodigy and a hunter, your uncle Qrow."

"So what? They stole it to get ahead in tech?"

"Perhaps or perhaps these cases are connected with my mission," Ozpin spoke and the memories of the professor explaining to Yang about the artifacts rushed into her mind.

"What could they want with that?"

"It is possible they viewed Ruby as a threat and eliminated her, such a thing would be possible with spies. However, as I have said just now, I know every secret, even if it takes me time to unearth them, I will know."

"So what secret is this?"

"This secret? A work in progress. As I have noticed, several students seem to gather at night or venture into Vale together, an unlikely group of allies I would say."

"Unlikely?"

"Yes, I do not believe Weiss Schnee and Pyrrha Nikos would accompany Mr. Winchester on a date together would they?"

Yang's eyes grew wide as her breathing hitched.

"They had something to do with this?" she growled, trying to suppress her anger as to not anger the headmaster next to her.

"I do not know, but if they are. Their actions may very well get them expelled and they will never be able to become hunters or huntresses once word spreads of a murder at their hands."

"But it has to be them!" Yang shouted as she took a stance as to keep herself grounded if an unrelenting force charged at her. "Think about it! If Pyrrha is dating Jaune and Jaune liked Ruby, then Pyrrha might've wanted him first and got rid of my little sister!"

"But what if she felt no feelings towards him and is just simply falling for the weeping knight? You have seen Ms. Schnee warm up to your sister, I would not believe she would do such things."

"I guess," Yang said, now feeling anger at herself for thinking about her friends betraying her trust and her sister. "but wait, have you noticed Weiss recently?"

"Noticed her?"

"Ever since _Roxanne_ came," she started, sneering the name of her new leader, "she's become all uptight again, maybe even worse. Roxanne's a faunas hater and now Weiss is back into it too!"

"I suppose this has to do with Ms. Belladonna's... extra parts."

"First, yes. Second, you know about that?"

He pointed at the desk, then at him before pointing at the ground below, then at him again.

"Oh, right headmaster. Gotcha, but anyways. A couple days ago, we're sitting in our dorm room. Arguing like we always do now, and Roxanne brings up 'dirty' faunas. Of course Blake starts arguing and before we know it Weiss has Blake's bow and my partner is covering her cat ears!"

"That is unacceptable!" Ozpin shouted and Yang nodded, now feeling the headmaster's anger, this time directed at the heiress and the new recruit. "I thought such racist qualities were gone!"

"Seriously, have you seen Cardin?" she asked and he sighed.

"I believed this problem would solve itself, I always do. Now I know I must act when needed," he sighed in defeat as he fell into his chair. "I have learned many things in my life, one being of the balance."

"Balance?"

"Yes, the belief that there must always be good and evil. For every force in our world, there is an equal and an opposite. For the Grimm, there are us Men and Faunas, for the light, there is dark, for the good, there is evil, and for life, there is death. Every matter, must have an anti-matter and every time the balance is tipped, our world, nature itself will send a force to tip it back in place."

"So you thought that if racism was here, it'd be evened out at some other point?"

"Yes, yes I did and now I am ashamed to know that I have failed in keeping Beacon whole," he spoke and she gave a sympathetic look.

"Hey, cheer up. It ain't over yet. What if the force of good is you, you're the freakin headmaster of Beacon! You have the power to stop this."

"Yes, but the balance will be tipped, even by a little it will cause a backlash. Families will argue of how useless Faunas are and how they are, but animals that must be taught their place. Political turmoil will ensue and Beacon itself would be a battlefield soon enough."

"Oh, when you put it that way," Yang said, rubbing the back of her neck. "So what do we do?"

"To simplify this, we wait and watch. Whatever dark force is out there will show itself, if this secret group of students are responsible for your sister's death, they will be punished accordingly, and when the time comes, I believe whatever mystery surrounding your sister's demise and the current state of affair around her will be solved."

* * *

**Done**

**Alright, so a lot of words**

**All finished in a day**

**Give or take two**

**So I tried to fix some things you guys talked about up**

**Benedict's stand point on emotions is that if you let them flow you can accept them**

**Ozpin's stand point on the balance is that it will be equaled out.**

**Now, a lot of things coming up**

**Alpha is a new character I decided to introduce since the White Fang talked about some new violent leader and I thought, "Hey, Megatron like gladiator. Sounds fun."**

**So let me hear your thoughts**

**I'll see you in the next chapter my friends!**

**Review, Favorite, and Follow**

**Sincerely,  
Lord Revan Flame**


	10. A Semester Ends

**Why hello there viewers**

**So here we are**

**Chapter 10**

**I just wanted to thank you all for your love and support**

**Now this chapter views a little more on everyone at Beacon than Ruby**

**So yeah**

**Let's get started**

**Wait**

**Wait**

**Wait**

**Also**

**RWBY Volume 2 Chapter 1 is now up on !**

**Let me say**

**I nergasmed**

**So, let's go**

* * *

Jaune POV

Several Weeks Later

"Come one. Come on. Come on! It's the last day of school!" Nora excitedly cheered as she jumped on me.

"Ah! Nora!" I gasped in pain as my stomach was getting turned to mush by her feet.

"Nora, get off of him," Ren groggily groaned as he got up.

"Fine," she pouted and stepped off my bed, allowing me to breath as I dry heaved.

"Technically, it's the end of the first semester, not the entire school year," Pyrrha corrected and Nora stuck out her tongue in response causing Pyrrha to gasp at the gesture of rebellion.

"Uh..." I trailed off as the two girls had a small fight.

Soon the regular morning routine was in order as Pyrrha polished her spear and shield while I was fixing on my armor pads. Nora was chatting away like some super fast type writer and Ren was checking Storm Flower. We were walking down the hall as usual on our way to classes like every other day.

Ever since the incident, the whole school seemed kinda biased because one side was sad the other was trying to keep an optimistic view on things by calling Ruby worthless and weak. Just yesterday Yang beat up some guy calling Ruby weak. I felt Pyrrha's hand slip into mine so I went with it as we walked to our classes.

First today was Prof. Port's class, his last class for the first semester. Anyways, we were sitting at the desks, well most of us laying since this was the usual method in doing things.

"Mr. Arc!"

I snapped to attention, my drowsy eyelids being forced up as I stared at the professor.

"Yes sir?" I sheepishly replied as he gave an annoyance look.

"What is the answer to my question?"

"Question?"

He gave me a confused look and I corrected myself instantly.

"Oh yeah, the question. Sorry, blanked out for a moment... what was the question?"

He sighed and looked up at me wit a 'really?' kind a look.

"I asked if anyone knew what Grimm is considered avian."

"Oh, uh..."

I darted my eye to the right at Pyrrha who was slowly flapping her arms and I got the message.

"Is it the Nevermore?"

"Correct!" he cheerfully cried out as he grabbed the hem of his buttoned up coat. "Good job Mr. Arc, now since this is the end of the first semester I have prepared a test for all of you."

He clapped his hands and the doors to the classroom opened to show a group of Beacon workers moving large cages that rattled and shook as the creatures inside growled, roared, screeched, stomped, etc. etc.

"Now each of these creatures will be new kinds of Grimm you will study in the next semester. Perhaps you will know how to slay them, perhaps not. If you are near defeat, I will intervene. Now, Ms. Schnee!"

Weiss' eyes widened as we watched her stare down at the teacher.

"Please, come forward. Seeing as you were the first to fight a Grimm in my classroom, why won't you be the first to do the last."

"Um, okay sir," she responded and began walking down the steps.

She drew Myrtenaster, holding the rapier at the ready. Prof. Port grabbed his Blunderaxe and raised it, ready to shop of the lock.

"Are you ready Ms. Schnee?"

"Yes sir!" she stated and he swung down, slicing through the steel lock like it was butter.

What came out shocked us all. It was a small creature, bicycle, I mean bipedal. It stood on two long legs and had two long arms, all four limbs skinny and covered in black fur with small bone plating. It had a sort of flat, long face with a bone mask, the head surrounded by a mane of black fur.

It gave a screech and charged, running by putting both arms forward and planting its feet a foot in front of it, then launching itself to land on its arms and repeat.

"The Chimproca, a feared creature of Grimm from the jungles that inhabit all regions of our world," Prof. Port voiced over the noise of Weiss dodging the swings of the monkey Grimm.

It screeched loudly causing Weiss to stumble in shock and pain as the noise near exploded her ear drums. We watched, holding our ears to ease the pain as the monkey Grimm jumped on her, but she aimed Myrtenaster up and it impaled itself on her.

Giving a faint, painful cry, it died as blood leaked onto Weiss' uniform. She gave a disgusted cry as she tried to wipe it off, but only succeeded in getting it on her arms. She sat down next to her team, arms crossed and eye narrowed as she grumbled.

As time passed, more students went up until it was my turn. I stood, holding Crocea Mors as two Beacon workers pulled up a pretty big cage.

"Now Mr. Arc, are you ready?"

"Uh... yes sir?" I nervously replied and he smiled as his Blunderaxe chopped off the lock.

What came out was a large bipedal lion Grimm, massive fin like bone plates jutting from its back and a large black mane surrounding its feline head which had long canines and a bone mask with red markings.

"The Manticore, a rare and dangerous Grimm. Now let us see if you can live up to your family name Mr. Arc," Prof. Port chuckled as I felt my pants get wet.

It gave a roar and charged at me, swinging its muscled arm. I raised my shield and barely managed to hold my ground against its clawed paw. I swung my sword, but it had already jumped back, bending over as a tail covered in bone white barbs came up behind it. It's tail pulled back before snapping forward, sending a dozen spikes at me.

I jumped out of the way, rolling across the floor before holding up my shield to block another swipe. I looked for a weak point like Pyrrha had taught me, but I had a hard time as it constantly swiped or shot at me. Finally, I saw it charging at me and took the opportunity to try and jump over it.

Sending some aura in my legs like I was taught in class, I managed to fly over it and land on my feet before stabbing it in the back, in between the back fins. The Manticore gave a roar of pain before starting to back up.

"Whoa!" I shouted as I lost my footing and held onto the bone fins on its back as it charged backwards into a wall.

_"Oh God, it's going to impale me!" I mentally screamed as my eyes widened._

That's when I got an idea. I pulled out my sword from its back and it stumbled at the sudden jolt of pain. I moved to its side and jumped off right as it stabbed the wall with its back fins. I charged forward and used my shield to slide one of its swipes across it before stabbing up and impaling its head on my sword.

I gasped and breathed heavily as I felt the adrenaline leave my body so I stumbled backwards and fell on my back.

"Good job Mr. Arc," Prof. Port clapped as two workers began trying to pry the body out of the wall. "Now someone please help Mr. Arc to his next class and remember, have a wonderful ball!"

I thought about his last words as my team carried me to my next class.

_"Who should I take to the ball?" I thought, but I felt a tug in the back of my head. "Pyrrha of course!"_

It was several hours later that the day was over. We had finished dinner and were on our way to our dorms when I stopped to go back and grab my history book. I made my way back to the dorm, but before I could open the door I turned and looked around, searching for Ruby.

"Ruby?" I muttered and sighed, remembering my friend.

Pyrrha had helped to ease the pain ad repress the memories, but I still always remembered her cheery attitude. I never got to tell her how I feel so right now I felt like a loser, well more of a loser than usual. I leaned against the wall and slid down it as I sat there.

"Mr. Arc?"

I jumped up at the voice and found Prof. Ozpin standing there, holding a cup of coffee and his cane.

"Oh, hello sir," I greeted as he gave me a confused look.

"Reminiscing on Ms. Rose are we?" he asked, cocking his head a bit.

"No, well... yeah," I answered, defeated as he took a sip of his drink.

"Well Mr. Arc, remember when I came to you and your team, assigning you the task of hunting down Ruby's- Excuse me, Ms. Rose's remains?"

"Uh, yeah, I remember," I replied and he gestured for me to go to my dorm.

"Please gather your team and Team RWBY, we must have a word in my office," he spoke and turned, walking back to his office in the clock tower.

I watched him round the corner before I opened the door to my dorm and stepped in.

"Hey guys," I said as everyone turned to look at me. "Ozpin wants us in his office."

"Why?" Pyrrha asked, suddenly blushing, or flustered... is that the same thing?

"I don't know, he just told me to get you guys and Team RWBY," I said and they nodded.

I knocked on Team RWBY's door and Roxanne answered, rubbing her eyes.

"What the hell do you- Oh, Jaune. Hi there," she tried to flirt, attempting to hide her drowsy and angry voice.

Ever since she met me, she's wanted me apparently, but Pyrrha's really defensive. Yang and her have had this whole rivalry or nemesis thing ever since she appeared. Ozpin put her in team RWBY so they could participate in the tournament, even though it seemed kinda rude to do that right after Ruby's...

I paused myself in my thoughts, accidently stopping in real life too.

"Jaune?" Yang asked and I snapped back into reality.

"Oh, Yang sorry. What's going on?" I asked as we were in the middle of the courtyard.

"We're going to the headmaster's office as you said Ozpin instructed," Blake answered and I remembered the professor's orders.

"Oh, yeah. Let's hurry up so we can get some sleep," I said and started running.

"Hey!" Nora shouted after me as we all rushed to his office.

When they entered the office, they found Ozpin not sitting behind his desk, but standing at the balcony, sipping from a cup of coffee.

"Professor?" Weiss called out and he turned to look at us.

"Oh, hello children," he spoke as he walked over to us.

Seating himself at the glass desk, he set the coffee mug down and clasped his hands together.

"Do you know why you are here?"

"Uhm, no," Weiss answered and he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before reopening them again.

"I have recently tracked what I believe is an individual that is connected to the android that looted your dorm room for Ms. Rose's possessions."

"Really?" I gasped, my voice full of hope that we would find something to explain all of this.

"Yes Mr. Arc, really. Now, I am afraid you will not be able to rest tonight for this mission requires your immediate attention."

"We're going on another mission?" Ren asked, raising an eyebrow. "With all due respect sir, but the last mission is what caused our friend's death."

"And it is this mission that we will discover why someone would steal her belongings," Ozpin firmly stated. "Now please head down to the airships, I have an associate waiting to take you all and aid you all on this mission."

"Wait, we don't get to say no?" Roxanne huffed and got a punch to her arm by Yang who was determined to go.

"This mission is required," the headmaster stated with a solemn voice.

We all nodded and left, heading to the landing pad. Conversation started up a little back when we were inside and it was quickly turning into an argument.

"Why do we have to go find the brat's stuff?" Roxanne groaned and earned another punch from Yang. "Ow! The hell is your problem!"

"My problem is you and your constant whining about my sister being weak!"

"Well she is one!"

They glared at each other and if looks could kill they'd be corpses at the moment. Everyone was focused on them as we walked, but after a while I got tired of them and tired of just lack of being not awake.

"Whoa," I said as I saw a ship, not as big as a cruiser, but bigger than an airship.

Everyone else turned to stare at what I was looking at. It was circular, with two large wings on either side, angled at the ground with two large prong like things on top with a dozen engines in the back. A ball like thing was in front, actually it was more like half of a ball made of glass and metal, probably the cockpit.

"That's our associate?" Weiss questioned, her eyes wide as she gazed upon it.

We walked faster now, making our way to the ship. Soon we came upon a tall man in armor, arms at his side as he stood there.

"Uh, hi?" I sheepishly greeted and he nodded, acknowledging me.

"Come," he growled and pressed a button on his gauntlet which seemed to have a built in scroll.

What looked like a gunship, a wider, flatter version of a bullhead floated down to us. For us, we would have to climb in through the side, but for our new friend, he just grabbed the bottom of the gunship where two large handles were and climbed in, metal attachments in the bottom pulling him in and it looked like he became one with it, weird.

It lowered close enough to the ground that we could jump up and into it. Soon enough we were in the guy's ship and let me say, I felt like peeing myself, again. The inside was like a giant prison, dozens of Grimm and creatures from all over the world were trapped in cages, hung upside down. Skulls and hides covered the walls, well where there were walls.

As this guy led us to where ever, I noticed the lack of screeching, howling, roaring, or growling. Soon enough we reached the cockpit and I guess I was right because the front of it was like a dome made of glass with a pattern of metal plating overlaying it probably to help with aiming the ship. The guy sat in a large chair that kinda reminded me of a throne.

The entire ship shuddered as it began to move and we stumbled a bit at the sudden jolt of activity.

"Get some sleep, we'll be at the target's coordinates soon," the man suggested, well more like ordered in a baritone voice full of malice and a bit of sociopathic stuff.

We complied and found more comfortable places to sleep on, on the cold metal ground. Pyrrha curled up next to me and I sighed in relief as I felt her comforting presence, but I could feel a burning sensation on my neck so I turned to see Yang glaring at me, but she quickly looked away.

"What was that about?" I murmured right before I fell asleep.

A couple hours later we were woken up by the sound of heavy footsteps.

"Wake up!" the armored titan roared and we snapped our eyes open at his voice.

"What's your problem?" Roxanne whined as she tried to curl up again.

"We're here," he growled and stalked down the hall, back to where the gunship was.

We followed him and soon we were on the ground again, now at a harbor.

"So this guy's here?" Yang asked and he nodded.

"I will observe from a distance, you will locate him. I will aid from afar," our associate ordered as he began walking away from the harbor. "Oh, and do not believe anything he says. He may say things along the line of he is your friend and ally, do not fall for his trickery."

With that he began moving again towards a hill that overlooked the harbor.

"Coward," I heard Pyrrha mutter, but shrugged it off as something else.

"Come on," I said and everyone followed me. "Anyone know how we're going to find this guy?"

"We could search for their aura," Blake suggested and everyone nodded in agreement.

She got down, sitting with her legs crossed and hand pressed together as if she was meditating. As time passed, we waited and waited, getting a bit bored and tired again, but then she gasped.

"What?" I asked as she got up, taking out Gambol Shroud.

"Something powerful is here. I can sense it," she stated and everyone got their weapons out.

"Where is it?" Ren asked as he looked around.

"On that ship," she said, pointing at a barge. "The red crate at the bow."

"Plan of action?" Yang asked and I looked at it.

"Um, well we need to stop whoever it is from escaping so..."

"We lay a trap!" Nora cheerfully exclaimed, pumping a fist into the air.

"We could get Nora to blast open the crate and when it comes out, Weiss, Blake, Roxanne, and I can open fire on it, sending it towards the ground where Yang could barrage it with Ember Celica," Pyrrha suggested while holding up a finger in thought.

"Then, if it is still standing you and I can cut it off up there," Ren finished, pointing up at the road leading out of the harbor.

"Good plan guys, now break!" I said and we left to get in position.

* * *

Third Person POV

He had been ordered into hiding, all of them had. After the first artifact was stolen, they had to find a way to protect the rest. Outside of his hiding place, two teams of hunters and huntresses in training crept to their assigned positions to get ready.

"Now!" Pyrrha shouted and Nora fired Magnhild.

The grenades blew open the red crate, sending pink smoke and red shrapnel everywhere. A massive robotic form fell out, falling on its front as it attempted to get away. It began crawling as the combined attack of Weiss, Blake, Roxanne, and Pyrrha, along with the occasional shot from Nora forced it off the ship.

It fell down onto the docks where Yang jumped up, thrusting her arms forward and sending a barrage of dust shots at it, a hail of red and yellow lights blasting it. Giving a mechanical roar it swept its arm, causing Yang to dodge. This gave the bot enough time to start running, quickly transforming into some kind of car.

"Did it just? Transform?" Weiss asked and everyone nodded.

"What're you waiting for! Go!" Roxanne practically screamed at them in frustration so they started running.

He kept driving, using his alt mode now gifted to him by his mother. He was a robotic automaton colored indigo blue and golden yellow, but by now the colors were faded and peeling. As he drove, he scanned the area for anymore life signs. Immediately, he sensed two humans ahead and attempted to turn, but saw no other way to go.

"Now!" Jaune cried out as he jumped out of his hiding spot to intercept the car.

Ren came out and fired, shooting a dozen rounds into the front of the car, ruining more of its already peeling paint job while also creating a large blot of holes in it and shredding the windshield. Jaune swung his sword and slashed its right tires, the blade of his sword cutting through the rubber with ease while leaving a scrape on the hard steel.

The car swerved and transformed back into the robotic being. It rolled across the ground before managing to plant both hands on the concrete and pushed itself onto its feet as it began to run once more. A dozen more shots came at him, bullets digging into its back as it kept running.

"Break his legs!" Nora screamed as she fired off two grenades, one hitting it in the small of its back and the other hitting it where the femur would be.

It stumbled from the impact and Yang started firing wildly, blasts coming at it and taking off chunks of armor plating before one powerful shot hit it where Nora had shot. Its leg came off in a series of sparks and a small explosion. It was crippled, well nearly. It started crawling again, but its other leg was severely injured as Pyrrha threw her spear, augmenting its speed with a blast from its rifle barrel.

Pinning its leg to the ground, it stopped as the students of Beacon neared it.

"Hold fire! Hold Fire!" it cried out in pain, as it held loose armor plating on its chest, its voice gruff and low.

"You can talk?" Jaune asked as he got in a stance, ready for it to attack them.

"Yes, please stop. I've been injured, see!"

Those words sparked the memory of their actions in the forest near Magnus in the minds of Pyrrha and Weiss, those words similar to Ruby's when Crescent Rose impaled itself into her leg. They shook off the shock, glaring at the downed robot.

"Why should we?" Yang growled as she stalked forward, wanting to know where all her little sister's possessions were.

"I'm a Hunter!"

They froze, this thing, this robotic monstrosity was a hunter? A hunter!

"What?" Jaune gasped and they lowered their weapons. "You're a hunter?"

"Yes, medical officer and huntsman Odys from Vytal, graduated from Beacon Academy, creation of Naomi Anderson also graduated huntress!" it cried out, explaining its history.

"How could a machine be a hunter?" Roxanne growled with anger as she came forward, holding a flail in one hand.

"Even bots have feelings little missy," he snapped, a bit of sass in his voice now, obviously angered by her remark.

"What happened to you? I mean before we came along?" Jaune asked as he walked over to it slowly, his light blue eyes staring into the bot's luminous blue ones.

At the same time Pyrrha came up and plucked her spear from its leg and walked back as everyone watched it stay put, a somber expression etched on its metal face if that was possible.

"We were ordered into hiding by Ozpin. He said they were coming for us."

"Who?"

"De-"

He was cut off as a shell rammed into his chest, sending him flying back into a crate with an explosion. He pulled out a gun and started firing, no longer concerned for their lives, now believing they had opened fire on him, an open act of aggression.

"What's wrong with you children these days!" he roared as they stumbled back and fought back.

Blast after blast made more pieces of him fly off leaving smoldering metal plates and pieces everywhere.

"Hold fire!" the baritone voice of their associate called out and they turned to see him slowly walking towards them. "Return to the ship, I will get his secrets."

"No, I want to know where Ruby's stuff is!" Yang angrily stated, but his poisonous green glare made her rethink her words.

She followed everyone back to the gunship, but before rounding a corner in the harbor, she grabbed Jaune and pulled him with her back to the two titans.

"What're you doing Yang?" he nervously whispered as he got dragged along.

"We're finding out where Ruby's stuff is," she stated as they neared the robotic hunter and their associate.

"How fun of mother to implant you all with the artifacts," they heard and peeked over a road block to see the man that had taken them here holding up an arm, a large hook made of metal plating on it. "But I have a deal for you. Tell me where the last piece is, where is mother's last piece of the artifact? I will only take your piece and go, you will survive."

"Please Deadlock, we both know you can't risk Ozpin knowing you're searching for the artifact pieces as well. I'd only contact him after our little meeting so let's just get this over with brother," the robotic being, Odys stated as sparks flew from his broken form.

"Where is he?" Deadlock growled once more, pressing his foot down on the robotic automaton, his robotic brother in the same torturous fashion in which he had inflicted upon Benedict.

"No," he weakly gasped in defiance, just like the veteran hunter.

He growled and impaled his hook into the robotic being, digging it in and searching for his prize. Odys gave a weak rasp, letting air vent out which would be seen as a gasp of pain in organic biology. Before long, Deadlock smiled and both students of Beacon knew he had found what he had come for.

Pulling out his hook, Odys gave a final wheeze before his eyes stopped glowing and turned dark as his body fell limp. On Deadlock's hook was a spherical orb of sorts, a machine that glowed with dust energy. Also impaled on the hook was a little handle looking thing, sort of like an arch with a base it was set on.

"Die you weak fool," he growled and took both items on his weapon of choice and stuffed them in a metal compartment built into his armor.

Kicking the body awy, he began stalking back to the gunship and Jaune and Yang took this as a sign to start moving, now knowing the robotic hunter was dead.

"Where were you guys?" Blake asked as they flew back to Beacon. "We're you spying on them?"

"Yeah," Yang whispered.

"You know you're not suppose to do something like that! We could get in trouble!" Weiss quietly screeched.

"It doesn't matter," Yang stated, glaring at the back of Deadlock.

"What do you mean it doesn't matter! You didn't even get the answers you needed, that robot monster died before Deadlock could get anything useful," the heiress snapped, but Yang scoffed.

"Yeah, he died," she grumbled, now knowing that something darker was going on here.

* * *

Ruby POV  


"Ruby? When do you think Mr. Smith will awaken?" Penny asked me and I looked up from my sandwich at her.

"I don't know Penny, I don't know," I spoke as I sat there, eating lunch with her at Dust in the Wind.

We finished lunch and started walking.

It's been a while since we've been here. Most of the time we slept in the waiting room in the hospital, other times we stayed up all night to go walk around Vale, a lot of the time visiting Dust till Dawn, that one store I saved from Torchwick that got me into Beacon.

Today we were getting food to eat with the money we got for helping the owner of Dust till Dawn with his store since we didn't have real jobs or anything. After a while we left the market and started making our way back to the hospital when we bumped into someone.

"Oh, sorry," I apologized, blushing out of embarrassment.

"It's okay," the person, a woman with long blonde hair responded as she helped me pick up some of the groceries that had fallen out of the bags we were holding.

Soon I had everything back in the bag and she helped me get up.

"Thank you," I thanked and she smiled.

"No problem, so why're you out here alone? I mean without an adult?"

"Oh, our... guardian is in the hospital so we're staying there."

"You're living in the hospital waiting room?"

I nodded and she scoffed.

"Well I can't let a cutey like you sleep in a chair all night," she stated defiantly, "Come on, you can sleep in my place!"

"Um, I don't know," I replied, kinda creeped out by her now.

"I'm not a creepy person," she argued, squinting at me with hands on her hips.

"Can you swear on that?" I asked and she held out her pinky.

"Pinky promise," she stated and I held her to that as I wrapped my pinky with hers.

A couple hours later we were at a apartment not so far from the hospital. It was a pretty big apartment with a bunch of rooms. I'm sure it was the penthouse because of the size and the amount of nice furniture and stuff.

"Lucky," I said as I saw the hospital out the window.

"Yeah, it helps when my boyfriend comes home and he's all bloody," she said and I raised my eyebrow as Penny kept looking around.

"He comes home bloody?"

"Yeah, he's a hunter and so am I, well actually huntress."

"Oh," I said, turning red as I realized she might recognize me.

"Yeah, it's me him and two other guy."

"Just like Art!" Penny cheered and the woman raised an eyebrow.

"Art?"

"Friend of ours, also a huntress with three guys on her team."

"Oh, you mean Arthelle? Crazy girl, best buddies with her!" she squealed and Penny and I looked at each other with strange looks.

"So um, where's your team?" I asked as we sat on a couch.

"Out on a mission. I got sick so they had to go without me, they'll definitely be back though."

"How soon?" I asked as I tilted my head.

"Day or two, give or take three. They actually get the job done pretty quickly, but do a lot of property damage along the way."

"Wow," I remarked and she smiled.

"Yeah, but I'm so excited for when he gets back!"

"Why?" I asked and her smile just widened to the point I could imagine her with orange hair and pink, grey, and white clothes.

"Because Beacon's having the annual ball!"

"What about the tournament?" I asked and she tilted her head.

"The ball's to help celebrate for that."

"Oh."

"Yeah, so my bf is taking me! It's going to be so romantic!" she squealed and went on and on about her boyfriend and her while Penny and I zoned out.

"So we're going to go," I said, "We need to check on our guardian."

"Oh, okay. Be back before nine or I'll come looking," she teased as she went to what I assumed was the kitchen in this apartment.

We left our new friend's apartment and walked over to the hospital, asking to see Mr. Smith. After a while we were sitting in the hospital room with his prone form, waiting to see if he'd wake up.

"Funny, first you take me in now this girl too," I spoke as I watched his chest rise and fall.

By now he was almost healthy seeing as the amount of healing dust being used was a lot more than the amount Aeren used on me. While I had multiple stab and bullet wounds, he had two large holes in him. I felt my eyelids get droopy and soon I was falling asleep, but I was awoken by a noise.

"Ruby," I heard and looked up to see Benedict mumbling in his sleep. "Protect."

He breathed painfully and I blushed as I realized he was dreaming about me.

"Cannot know, not yet."

I perked up at that, he was keeping a secret from me. I moved closer, but was cut off as the door opened to show my new friend there.

"There you are," she said and walked over, seeing my mentor. "Oh, is this your guardian?"

I nodded and she kneeled down next to me, watching him.

"He's kinda cute," she remarked, not giving a care, just observing. "What happened to him?"

"He got shot by a bounty hunter. He had some kind of cannon and tore him apart with two shells," I explained and she nodded.

"I'm sorry he's like this," she said and I smiled.

"It's fine, but I just want him back. He's been helping me ever since we met."

"That's pretty nice of him."

"Yeah," I responded, staring at his prone form.

Suddenly, we were startled by a ringing sound and after a while my friend pulled out a scroll.

"Oh, sorry. I got a call from my bf."

She left the room and I walked over to sitting by Penny's slumbering form. I shook her awake and she looked up at me with her big emerald eyes.

"What is it Ruby?" she curiously asked, a confused face showing.

"We're going back to what's her name's place."

"Oh," she yawned as she sat up straight.

We walked out of the hospital room after a while and saw our new friend on the ground, head in a hole made by her arms that were crossed on top of her knees as she sat there.

"Is something wrong?" I asked and she nodded to answer.

"My boyfriend can't make it back for the ball in time," she quietly said, obviously really sad.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said back and she looked up with a smile.

"You're such a sweet little thing aren't you? Come on, let's just get back to my apartment."

"Sensational!" Penny cheered and both of us laughed at her response.

"So what's your name?" I asked and she looked down at me.

"Oh, I'm Kaylen, Kaylen Sivad."

* * *

Jaune POV

The Next Day

"That thing was a hunter," I whispered to Yang and she nodded.

Both of us agreed to tell Ozpin about our success. Our teams had gone off to bed the moment they returned, but Yang had insisted that I gave my report too as leader of Team JNPR in the morning. Apparently, Roxanne was to 'tired' to go so Yang 'decided' to take her place.

"But that guy, Deadlock said not to believe anything he says," she responded, looking down in thought. "Something is going on and we need to find out what."

We arrived at Ozpin's office to find him sitting behind the desk, sipping his morning coffee.

"Why hello children, I believe you are about to give me your mission report?"

"Yes sir," Yang answered and he nodded with a smile.

"Enlighten me Ms. Xiao Long and Mr. Arc."

We nodded and started telling everything that had happened last night, up until the part where the robot, Odys called itself a Huntsman.

"And so I assume this mechanical monstrosity was taken care of accordingly?"

"Yes sir, but..." I trailed off in thought and Ozpin took notice immediately.

"What is it Mr. Arc?"

"Sir, the robot. Odys called himself a huntsman."

Ozpin dropped his mug. It fell down and slammed onto the glass desk, spilling coffee across the surface, a bit splashing on his clothes, but he didn't seem to care. That name meant something to him.

"Odys?"

"Did you know him professor?" Yang asked and he nodded, slowly.

"He was a creation of Naomi Anderson, my team member."

"Oh," both students said, realizing they were friends.

"She was smart, always inventing and discovering. Eventually she created autonomous life by making what she called cybernetic souls, adding her aura into coding and creating actual living souls capable of thought and feeling."

"She had kids," Yang simplified and he nodded.

"In a way, yes. She placed these cybernetic souls into robotic bodies, automatons. This was her proudest achievement, creating new life, however the secret to how she did this was lost with her death."

"So this Odys gu- er, bot, he was one of her kids?"

"Yes, a piece of her soul and a complex set of coding that formed into Odys' soul. To think the source I believed was our enemy was actually Odys?" he sat there, eyes wide and mouth slightly dropped, his mask gone once more leaving a broken man in its place.

"Prof. are you okay?" I asked and he shook his head to answer, letting out a heavy sigh.

"Have I just murdered my brother?" he asked, looking up at us. "Did I send you to execute him? My brother in arms?"

"No professor, but I think what your going to hear is pretty interesting," Yang stated, getting ready to reveal Deadlock's secret.

Meanwhile, across Beacon in a classroom of a certain Professor Peter Port, said teacher was calling an old acquaintance.

"So are your plans in order?"

"Yes Peter."

"Good, jolly good!" he cheered and laughed. "The students will be thrilled dear cousin."

"I'm sure they will," the voice said and the line cut.

* * *

**Done**

**So I hope you liked this chapter**

**The next set of chapters are going to be a sort of insight into life at Beacon at the moment**

**Anyways**

**Beacon Ball is coming up**

**I'm basing it on that part of the Volume 2 trailer for RWBY**

**Since Volume 2 is coming out**

**It won't exactly be canon**

**I'll try and keep it close to the actual canon plot, but I'm going to break off at points**

**So who is Professor Ports' cousin**

**Why are they making plans?**

**How many bots did Naomi Anderson create?**

**What is Benedict's past?**

**When will I show that giant robot Roman got?**

**No clue**

**So Review, Favorite, and Follow**

**Lord Revan Flame, signing off**


	11. Enter, The Achieve Hunters!

**Hello Viewers**

**As you can tell by the title**

**Pretty fun chapter**

**I hope you all loved the first episode of Volume 2 for RWBY**

**I sure did**

**Watching it while typing this actually**

**Anyways, let's a start a now shall we?**

* * *

Third Person POV

Several Days Later

It was a not so normal day at Beacon as the student body filed into the ball room/auditorium to await Prof. Ozpin's announcement. Teams RWBY and JNPR had been the stars of the school when Roxanne 'accidentally' leaked information of their late night mission issued by Prof. Ozpin himself.

"Excuse me," they all heard and turned to see Ozpin on stage, holding his coffee mug and cane as usual. "As you all know I have an important announcement concerning the upcoming Beacon Ball to celebrate half a years studies and work as well as to help welcome our exchange students."

People cheered and the headmaster waited for the crowd to calm down.

"Now, I would like to thank Prof. Port for his wonderful addition to the ball."

He stepped back to allow the grey haired teacher walk up, taking his place as speaker. People groaned, realizing that the announcement had been something Prof. Port had chosen.

"Now I know how important this time of year is to all of you. Christmas season up and coming as snowfall slowly begins in several weeks. The ball soon to come with joy and splendor for you all!" the huntsman turned teacher laughed and the crowd silently groaned. "Now I have taken the honor to contact my cousin in seeing if he and his 'crew' could play some delightful music for you during the ball."

Everyone visibly paled until a man wearing casual clothes and having an all to familiar face walked onto stage.

"Uh, Peter. It's less delightful, more pump it up," Ryan Haywood spoke as he leaned over to his cousin, Peter Port.

A loud gasp was heard as Yang started to hyperventilate, her teammates and friends trying to help her calm down.

"Ah, Ryan my dear cousin. I see that you all recognize him from the concerts and posters," Prof. Port chuckled and everyone cheered.

Next to step out was a group of guys and casual wear. One had a short sleeved shirt showing off arms covered in tattoos and a face with a fancy moustache. Another had on glasses with the distinct features of a Hispanic man. Next to him were two guys messing with each other. The first a guy with curly hair and glasses also wearing a beanie, laughing as he caused the other guy, a full head of hair on him with a shadow of hair across his jaw to fall over, embarrassing himself, and the last was a guy with a large orange beard and beanie was also on his head as shades covered his eyes.

"Hey everybody!" Geoff Ramsey shouted enthusiastically while Michael Jones laughed at Gavin Free who was sprawled on the floor.

Jack Pattillo was snickering under his breath as was Ryan while Ray Narvaez Jr. was all out laughing his head off. Girls fainted, boys cheered, and Beacon lit up brightly with joy as they roared with happiness because The Achieve Hunters were there to play at the ball.

"Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God!" Yang squealed with pure joy while  
everyone looked at her.

Elsewhere across Vale within a hospital room there sat a girl in a red cloak next to a man who lay on a bed, his bare chest showing what remained of his wound. He breathed shakily, his chest rising up and down slowly and painfully as he lay in a comatose state.

There was still two holes in him, but the wound in his shoulder had healed into a small wound that would heal in a day or two while the hole in his chest still held a view of inner muscles and flesh. Ruby stared at his prone form, waiting for her mentor to awaken.

"I wish you were awake, you could meet Kaylen and maybe go to that ball thing. It'd be fun," she spoke, tilting her head with a sad smile.

Tears started to trail down her face and dripped down onto the blanket he wore over his body. She let them spill now, wanting to let out all the sadness and let out the anger later.

She quietly sobbed, resting her arms on him as she pressed her head into the hole made by her arms. Her eyes closed as tears seeped out from in between the lids, she continued her mourning.

"You know those tears sting right?"

Her eyes widened at the sound and looked around for the sound.

"Right."

She turned her head and looked at Benedict's disapproving face.

"Wha?"

"Your salty tears really make the pink flesh sting," he groaned in pain and she cried out in joy as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "To tight! to tight!"

Hearing him choke out his warning, she let go and smiled at him.

"You're awake!" she said loudly with all the joy in her small body.

"Yeah, I'm awake. I'm surprised I'm even whole, thought he would've shot off my limbs or something," he said as he tried to sit up, but succeeded in realizing there was a crater in his chest. "This sucks."

"Hey, at least you lived," she snapped and he let out a chuckle.

"It hurts to laugh," he laughed and put his head back as he let the pain flow and slowly dissipate. "So what'd I miss?"

"Well we're in Vale in a hospital. This lady took Penny and I in, her name's Kaylen Sivad and she's really nice like you, but not all that depressing like you."

"Hey," he responded, faking anger at her comment and she punched playfully on his shoulder. "That tickled."

"You want me to cry in your chest hole some more?" she asked, making a pouty face at him and he rolled his eyes at her.

"So how're you?" he asked, looking at me with his gentle giant look.

"I'm keeping the emotions held up and letting them out when I want to-"

"Like right now?" he interrupted and I nodded.

"I was going to go cut up some trees later to let out my anger."

"Not the best idea to do in public."

"Well what should I do?" I asked and he shrugged, but winced at the pain he felt at moving the things below his head.

"I do not know, perhaps you should spend time training."

"Oh right, I forgot about training," I said, remembering everything he taught me. "I was actually spending more time sitting in here than doing anything else."

"Understandable, but now you're going right back out. So go down to a training ground or something and train!" he ordered and I nodded with a smile before engulfing him in another hug.

"It's good to have you back Mr. Smith," she joyfully stated and he let a smile appear on his face as she let go to leave.

* * *

Ruby POV

I was walking down the sidewalk, well more like skipping in joy since Mr. Smith was awake now. It's almost been a month since Penny and I got back to Vale and we've been nonstop worrying about him.

"You hear about that one team from Beacon?"

I stopped at that the voice, looking over to see two people walk by, gossiping about the tournament at the end of Beacon's second semester.

"Yeah, what was their name? I forgot it again. Rugby, Ruffus, Rent..."

I turned pale as the name popped up in my head, my name.

"RWBY," I murmured as I walked away from the two people, looking down.

My happy mood was gone, replaced by a really depressing one because _they_ came back into my life. I was pretty good at letting things go by now, my emotions just washing away, but sometimes like right now I still felt a ping in my heart. I crossed the street and came up to Dust 'Till Dawn.

"Hi sir," I spoke as I came up to the shop owner.

"Oh, hello Ruby," he greeted back, smiling as he pulled up a pane of glass. "Would you help me put up the window?"

"Aye sir!" I stated with enthusiasm as I grabbed the other side.

We managed to prop it up where the window would be and it quickly stuck to the glue that was being used to keep it in place.

"Thank you Ruby," the shop owner thanked as he handed me 20 Lien. "For your trouble."

"Thank you sir," I said and entered his shop.

After Torchwick's attempted robbery, the place got pretty messed up. Penny and I helped him rebuild most of it so now all that was left was fixing the window I had smashed through. I picked up some vials of dust to practice with, fire, lightning, light, etc.

"I'd like to buy these!" I stated and he took the 10 of the 20 Lien he gave me in exchange for the dust.

Soon enough I was in Cybertrel Arena, a special training place they set up a while back. It was like Beacon's training room, but bigger and with a lot more stuff in it. I signed in at the desk and paid the fees to turn on the automatons and which ones I wanted on.

I got in a ready position and expanded my sweetheart, Crescent Rose taking on her full scythe form. Smirking, I set it on my shoulder as the pack of Beowolf automatons moved forward with a small group of Ursa automatons. A Beowolf rushed at me, swiping when it got in range of me.

I jumped back, impaling my sweetheart's blade into the ground to catch myself. I twirled and kicked it in the face before landing on my feet and quickly pulling Crescent Rose from the ground. With a loud slicing noise, the automaton fell into to pieces as I smiled at the remaining training enemies.

The pack of Beowolves ran at me, metal chassis whirring as they charged. The Ursi lumbered behind them, walking tanks covered in bone plate armor or in this case hard steel plating. Collapsing my sweetheart into its rifle form, I took a vial of fire dust and threw it across the ground. It landed and clicked across the ground, the glass vial being made to withstand a high amount of force on it.

I aimed and waited as the automatons came at me. Right when the vial was in the middle of them, I fired and the group was consumed in a plume of flames. Several of the remaining automatons stumbled out, most of them Ursi and a few Beowolves. The Beowolf copycats fell forward, dying as the flames ate at their wiring and circuitry while the Ursi kept going, ignoring their melting chassis.

I fired several more shots, aiming for their exposed innards visible in the holes of molten metal. One went down with several shots to its core, another collapsed, its limbs crippled with a couple shots to its primary rotating gears. The last two were to close so I collapsed Crescent Rose into its storage form and placed it on my back as I set my right hand on the ground.

I looked up and squinted my eyes as I kept myself in a ready position. I aimed for the crippled automaton and shot forward with my semblance, speeding something times faster than a rocket. The rush of air behind me pulled the two Ursa automatons off their metallic paws and into the air as they flew behind me and I jumped over the crippled one, landing on my feet and turning.

The sheer force of my speed shot past me and blew out the flaming pyre of metal behind me as I locked my eyes on my target. The two automatons connected with the last one and I puled out the vial of electric dust, throwing it in the air before kicking it at them with my new foot eye coordination I learned to use from Mr. Smith.

It struck the chassis of one of them and cracked open, spilling electric dust on them and causing them to stop moving at the sudden overload of energy. I pulled out my sweetheart and fired at the spot of dust, lighting it like a match lighting a trail of explosive dust.

There was a loud explosion and a cloud of smoke rose up, small lightning bolts zigzagging around it. I smiled, knowing that I wasn't that rusty.

"Need faster shooting," I murmured as I stepped out off the platform used for training.

It was only after I looked up to see the small crowd around me. There was a slow clapping as I saw a man clad in heavy armor approach me.

"What a wonderful display of skills, I assume you are training to be a huntress?" he spoke, his voice low and having a bit of malevolence in it, but most of it having generosity... I think, kinda sounded like it was strained.

I slowly nodded, unsure of who he was or why he was the one to talk to me.

"How rude of me, I am Alpha," he introduced, outstretching a large hand, covered in a metallic, armored gauntlet.

I raised my small, pale hand and shook it awkwardly, seeing the big difference between unprotected pale hand the size of a cookie to a large hand covered in metal plating the size of a cannon ball.

"Alpha?"

"You seem to not heard of me? A pity," he responded, rolling his crimson red eyes as if he felt hurt by how I didn't know who he is. "Perhaps we may be acquainted on a walk?"

He gestured with his hand for me to walk past him so I did and eventually we were moving throughout the track in the training center, walking at the same pace. He was explaining to me about life in the mines, working for Weiss' dad's company.

"I was once called D-16, naming myself after the mineshaft I worked within. As time passed, I discovered the gladiatorial pits of the city Krawn, known as the Pit I took up arms and became a champion of the Pit!" he exclaimed with pride and I stared at him curiously.

"Well, what're you doing here then?" I asked and he laughed, a low, malevolent laugh.

"I gave up my life in the arena, my great power for political power. I am now the voice of the Faunas, calling for equality between your people and mine."

"That's cool."

"Yes, it is indeed _cool_," he replied, saying _cool_ like it was a strange word.

"So what do you do?" I asked and he gestured at the training platforms.

"I am known to venture here to hone my skills further, but at most times I am in front of a camera or seated in a meeting. My political presence is great in the world, but I am still a half-breed and therefore looked down upon."

"Half-breed?" I asked and he nodded.

"Half human, half faunas. My father, a man who came to meet with the Schnees, my mother, a faunas servant of the Schnees, treated like a slave. When they passed, I was set in the mines for my blood. We are looked down upon in society, the lowest of the low we are called for the idea of a human and a faunas having a child I sickening to both sides."

"That sounds unfair," I said and he nodded.

"People like you are rare, very, very rare. Most would not dare to even glance at me, but my power has brought my people, the Faunas back up. However, the White Fang hinders our progress."

"Yeah, my mentor says they make a bad name for you guys."

"They do indeed, but your people also hinder us as well. They go as far as saying that I am leader of the White Fang in secret! Bah," he scoffed and waved his hand as if to swipe away a cloud of smoke. "Incompetent humans, no offense my little friend."

"I don't take any, besides. We've made a lot of mistakes," I responded and he nodded.

"So young, yet so wise. Is this you speaking or this mentor of yours?"

"Probably my mentor," I answered, blushing at his compliment/question.

"You impress me in both combat and intellectual skills, I am afraid I must take my leave now," he spoke and turned to leave. "I swear that one day humans and faunas shall mingle together."

I smiled at those words and started to go back to the training platform when I heard him mutter something.

"Under my foot," I thought I heard, but shrugged it off.

* * *

Jaune POV

"Yang!" I squealed in surprise like a pig as the blonde dragged me with her.

"We gotta talk Lady Killer," she spoke as she threw me into the locker area, the whole place abandoned since everyone was out trying to get a glimpse of the Achieve Hunters or at least talk to them.

"T-talk a-about wha-what?" I stuttered in fear because when Yang wanted to talk, it usually involved broken bones and bruises plus a lot of blood.

"I know you liked my little sister."

I paused, staring at her, those words not even registering for a while. When it did I blinked and turned red as I stared at her some more.

"What?"

"Don't play dumb Jauney boy!" she growled and grabbed the collar of my hoodie, pulling my face to hers. I felt sweat starting to drip down my face as my eyes widened in fear. "Ozpin told me."

"Ozpin?"

"He knows everything," she menacingly whispered and I felt my heart start to beat rapidly in horror.

"Does he know that I-"

"Got into Beacon illegally? Yeah, he's alright with that though. Anyways, you like Ruby," she said and threw me back, making me stumble into a locker.

"Well, I..." I trailed off, not being able to speak any words because I was just frozen. "You don't sound mad."

"Yeah, if Ruby was... I'd be mad, okay, I'd beat you to a pulp for corrupting my sister, but now I know why you were moping around like me after the mission. It wasn't because you and her were buddy buddy, it hurt you just as much as me."

She was looking down now, not wanting to look me in the eye and I just looked down too.

"Gavin you idiot!"

We turned our heads in time to see the Achieve Hunters walk into the locker area.

"I'm sorry, the map's just confusing!"

"It's upside down!" Geoff shouted, but the band noticed us there, staring at them. "Oh, sorry are we, uh... interrupting anything?"

"Oh, no no no no no," Yang quickly said, blushing heavily as I rubbed the back of my head. "I was just talking to him about crushing on my sister!"

"Yang," I tried hissing, but it came out as an embarrassed murmur.

"That sounds nice, so um, can you tell us where Ryan's cousin's classroom is? Ryan wants us to meet him."

"Cousin?" I asked, but it finally clicked in my head. "Prof. Port is his cousin!"

"Yeah, so do you know?" Jack asked and we both nodded.

A couple minutes later we were leading them across campus to the classroom, actually talking with them.

"So what songs are you going to sing during the concert?" Yang excitedly asked and they shrugged.

"Usually we wing it," Geoff confessed and chuckled. "but there is one we're definitely going to use."

"Ooh, is it the Blood Gulch Blues or, or is it the-"

"Whoa, whoa calm down kid," Jack said, holding up his hands. "We started writing a song after Peter called Ryan. We based it off that one student who died, I forgot her name."

"Ruby?" I quickly asked before Yang could even gasp.

"Yeah, that's her name!" Michael said, snapping his fingers, but saw our shocked faces. "Oh, sorry to quick?"

"No no no, it's just. I'm Yang Xiao Long, her older sister," Yang introduced and they all looked at each other.

"Oh, so the kid, Ruby was your... sister?"

"Yeah," she said, looking down now, the depression coming back to her.

"Oh, hey, we're sorry," Geoff tried to apologize, but Yang was already in the mood.

"Um, the classroom is right here," I said and pointed at a door next to us.

"Thanks kid," Jack thanked as they left, obviously feeling guilty for mentioning Ruby and getting Yang in depression again.

* * *

Ruby POV

"Stupid Weiss, stupid Pyrrha," I grumbled as I kicked a can across the sidewalk.

All the way back to the hospital, I kept hearing people talking about Beacon and Team RWBY. Apparently I got replaced by some new girl whose 'better' than me and Pyrrha is dating Jaune! Jaune!

Suddenly, I realized what I had been thinking and blushed at the thought of Jaune and me together, well not Nora and Ren together, more like together together, like love together.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when I bumped into someone.

"Hello Ruby!" Penny chirped and my eyes widened in shock before I remembered who Penny was.

"Oh, hey Penny," I said, trying to force joy in my voice.

"I hear that Mr. Smith is awake now."

The joy struck my heart and I smiled widely, remembering that fact.

"Yeah, he's awake and I was there to see him wake up!" I said and she smiled wider. "It was so funny too because he was all like, 'Your tears sting my chest hole' and I started crying in joy and stuff."

She giggled at my explanation of what happened and soon enough we were eating at Dust in the Wind. I nibbled on a sandwich while she drank some tea. It was a pretty normal lunch until I heard a familiar voice.

"I would like a salad with some tea please," Pyrrha ordered as most of the student body ordered. "Also, we have enough Lien to rent out the café again."

The owner nodded and took the cash before walking into the back. I grabbed Penny and slowly walked us to the entrance as the group of Beacon students, probably the ones who planned my murder gathered around in a small mass of tables and chairs.

"I think Ozpin's onto us," Weiss confessed, her eyes wide with fear. "That blonde brute has been going up to his office and having talks with him. They might be catching onto us."

"No way, we completely sealed the deal. There is absolutely no way that the little red brat could've survived," Cardin argued, but was countered by multiple glares.

"First of all, we did not completely seal the deal. They were suppose to find her body, not have it get dragged off to the woods and get eaten, second of all, the Beowolves that apparently took her are dead, maybe she survived, and third of all, if they find out that we killed her, there's no telling what they'll do," the cold hearted heiress remarked, her teeth grit as she bared them at her classmate.

"Fine, fine. I just got one question now, why in the name of God is Jauney Boy still at Beacon? He faked his transcripts, he doesn't deserve to be at a school for hunters and huntresses!"

"Because he's my boyfriend and if you dare spill his secret I will gut you like a Beowolf," Pyrrha threatened, emphasizing by stabbing her knife into her salad and chewing on a green leaf.

We finally made it to the door and left the café, shaken by what we saw.

"Were those people the ones who hurt you?" Penny asked and I nodded as we walked directly to the hospital.

We didn't stop, whenever Penny asked me if she could go back and beat them up, I didn't answer. I was to into my thoughts now, I was thinking it all over. Jaune faked his transcripts to get into Beacon, they were worried that they'd get found out, and no one still knew that I was murdered.

"Ruby?"

I snapped out of it and found myself in a hospital room, Benedict in bed with multiple medical instruments hooked up to him, supporting him.

"Oh, Mr. Smith," I greeted, shocked at the sudden appearance.

"You were thinking weren't you?"

"Um... Yeah," I confessed and he nodded with closed eyes.

"Penny told me that you saw those students who attempted to murder you before she left to check on your friend, Kaylen was her name?"

"Yeah," I answered again and he smiled.

"You know, revenge can kinda help with consoling yourself," he said, moving his eyes so he was looking up at the ceiling.

"What?" I asked, confused now. Wasn't revenge a bad thing. "Isn't getting back at someone bad?"

"Not all the time, I mean, you could just give 'em a nice scare or a pretty big one where they feel haunted by your ghost cause you appear randomly everywhere they are."

He smiled devilishly and I did the same as my hand reached for Crescent Rose.

"Remember, no violence, just lots and lots of drama," he stated simply as I left the room.

* * *

Third Person POV

"That insufferable Little Red is still haunting me, even after death," Weiss Schnee growled as she ran through the rain, having gone to Dust Till Dawn for some new vials of dust since she was running out.

Everyone else had gone back to Beacon, but her leaving her in the rain that had been told in the forecast. Right now, she was wondering if God was trying to punish her or if this was just dumb, bad luck. Her fast running brought her to the airships and she quickly began to board with other people waiting to get back to the academy.

Taking a seat, she sighed and laid her head back on the seat. She peered out the window and gazed at the large puddles- no, pools of water formed by the droplets of rain water. Then, something caught her eye as lightning flashed. A figure donned in black and red, a rose red cloak set on her, a darker hue from the water falling on it.

The figure's face was shrouded by the hood and by the shadow cast by the hood, but even Weiss knew who it was. Another flash of lightning snapped her out of her stupor and she blinked as she moved backwards from the bright light. Looking back, she saw only pools of rain water.

She sighed, realizing her anxiety was getting to her.

_"It's just guilt right? No, wait, why do I have guilt? I don't have guilt! She was holding me back!" she angrily thought, arguing with herself within the confines of her mind._

She failed to notice the movement near her until it was to late. A figure cloaked in red, now dry stood in the small crowd of students standing up, the pale lower face of the figure visible showing off a devilish smirk. She gasped and got up, rubbing her eyes, but then the figure was gone again.

"What's happening?" she mumbled and sat back down, not wanting to fall asleep her for fear she may stay on the airship when they landed at Beacon and also because she feared what nightmares her mind would conjure up. Arriving at the prestigious academy, the heiress fled the airship and headed straight for her dorm.

She made it and locked the door behind her, leaning against it while sighing in relief.

"There's no way whatever that thing was could get in here," she murmured as she recomposed herself.

It was only her in the room, the three other teammates of hers were most likely training. She walked over to the new table they had purchased in Vale after Yang had blown up the first one and the wall. There was a strike of lightning and she yelped, jumping back, but the flash of light illuminated a rose red figure outside in the courtyard.

A shrill scream left her mouth as she fell backwards and landed on her back. The door was blasted open by Yang with rest of their team behind her.

"What's going on!" she yelled, holding up Ember Celica as she searched for an opponent, but found Weiss on the ground. "Hey, you look like a ghost popped up and said, 'boo'."

"Yea- I mean, no... it was just a bad dream," she said and they tilted their heads, not believing her answer, but just went with it.

"Alright," the blonde brawler spoke and grabbed a water bottle from her bedside before walking back to the training room with her partner.

An hour later after running a hot shower and redressing in her night gown, Weiss returned to her room. She looked out the window cautiously and wearily. A strike of lightning illuminated the courtyard of Beacon, but showed no humanoid figures. She sighed in relief and fell onto her bed, starting to drift to sleep.

She moved her hands, but hit something in her pillow. Her eyes snapped open and she got up, staring at a small hole. She stuck her finger in it and felt something cool, like metal. After a bit of wriggling and squeezing, she managed to pull out a bullet. Eyes widening, she searched her bed and found a casing set underneath her pillow.

A message was scrawled onto the casing, written hauntingly.

"The next one isn't going to miss," the heiress recited, whispering it in a hushed voice.

She hid the bullet and its casing in one of her suitcases before lying in bed, eyes open and searching the shadows for the color of rose red.

* * *

Vale

"And where have you been?" Kaylen asked as Ruby returned to the apartment.

"Oh, just having a good time in the rain," she answered, giving a cute little smile to try and get the blonde to leave her alone.

It worked and she just rolled her eyes before walking back into the kitchen to make her hot chocolate. Plopping down next to Penny, she watched the TV with her ginger friend.

"So how was your day Ruby?" Penny asked and she shrugged.

"Scared Weiss, Ben woke up, etcetera," Ruby answered with a smile.

"Okay," her friend chirped and they went back to watching the news report.

_"Our main story today is the upcoming Beacon Ball for Huntsman and Huntresses," the news lady announced on the channel. "Huntsman and Huntresses from all over Vale are either coming to or returning to the academy for the next generation of hunters. Foreign students are attending as well in preparation for the Vytal Tournament at the start of summer and the end of the Beacon school year."_

"To bad I can't go," I spoke, lowering my head in disappointment.

"Who said you couldn't," I heard and looked to see Kaylen standing behind us. "Since my bf couldn't take me doesn't mean I can't take you two."

Our eyes widened from shock, but small smiled came up on our faces.

* * *

**Done**

**I hope you like this chapter**

**I plan on a somewhat romantic moment later on for Ruby and Jaune**

**I guess it'll be romantic**

**Not sure**

**But still, lot a stuff coming**

**Review, Favorite, and Follow**

**Sincerely,  
Lord Revan Flame**


	12. Red Like Roses

**Hello viewers**

**Welcome back to my RWBY story**

**So far I appreciate all of your feedback**

**Good or bad, it all helps**

**All of you who are generally liking this or are pretty interested**

**Those of you who break your desks smashing your fists into them out of whatever for reading my story**

**And then all of you who send me errors that I've made so I can correct them**

**I thank you all**

**Now, here we go!**

* * *

Ruby POV

"I'm not sure about this Kaylen," I said, shaking out of worry and fear.

I had explained to my friend how I was a 'dead' student at Beacon and she had been surprised and shocked. We had to hold her down to stop her from marching up to Beacon and killing everyone there. Ever since then she's been working on giving me a new identity. She got me a scarlet haired wig and put it on my head since I didn't want to dye my hair.

Then I got blue contact lenses to use to cover my silver eyes. My red cloak was replaced with a black hoodie and some jeans while I wore makeup.

"This has got to work," Kaylen said as she finished touching me up. "No one can recognize you now, especially since they think you're dead."

"Uh, yeah sure," I said, really doubting this plan of hers.

"Come on, cheer up. You guys are my little cousins who're accompanying me to the Beacon Ball since my Boyfriend couldn't make it!" she snarled, growling when she said the last couple of words.

"Uh, yeah. Ha ha ha," I nervously laughed as she glared at the wall where a picture of her boyfriend and their team was.

Her boyfriend was a muscular blonde guy with a red tattoo of a line going down the right side of his body, his skin tan and wearing nothing, but pants and a armored shoulder pad held on to him by a leather strap. Next to him was a slightly darker skinned guy a bit shorter than him, but had a certain lean, fit look to him. He had long green hair and red eyes with a black hooded jacket. The last guy was a tall, thin blonde haired guy whose hair was all messed up and had a pair of goggles strapped onto his head, blue lens illuminated by the flash of the camera.

"So, when're we going?" I asked and she looked at her watch.

"In a bit," she answered and walked back to the closet to get something to wear herself.

Right now I was just in my red cloak with the black coat over it. I also had on a black long skirt that went down to the middle of my thighs and a red dress shirt over that with a black vest.

"I look good," I remarked as I looked into the mirror, taking a pose like a model before turning into a mess of giggles.

"Your beauty amuses you Ruby?" Penny asked, tilting her head.

She was wearing a black dress with a white button up shirt underneath it so when it came up to her chest it stopped and two feminine overalls went over her shoulders. Also, she had green highlights going down the sides that she somehow put on when we weren't looking. They're pretty cool.

"Alright, ready!" Kaylen shouted and showed up in a light blue dress that looked like it sparkled.

"Ooh, shiny," I commented and she laughed as she led us outside.

"Alright dear cousins, time to party!"

"I thought this was a ball?" Penny asked and Kaylen rolled her eyes as she began to drive.

* * *

Jaune POV

"Ren! Pleeeeeeeeeaaaaaaassssssssseeeeee!" I drew out as he fixed his own tie.

"I always help you out with your tie Jaune, you should have watched enough now to know how to tie your own tie."

I sighed in defeat and fell back on my bed, Nora laughing as she jumped up and down in her pink and white dress while Ren wore a pink tie over a black and white tuxedo. I got a rented tuxedo and managed to buy a really cool tie that had X-Ray and Vav on it, but I had no idea how to tie it.

"Pyyyyyyyyrrrrrrhhhhhhaaaaa!"

"I'm sorry Jaune, but you have to man up some time," she giggled and cupped my chin with her hand before kissing my cheek and walking out into the hall.

I just sighed in defeat and pulled out my scroll, looking for videos on how to tie a tie. An hour later after inventing new, embarrassing ties, I managed to make a pretty good one so I just kept it. I walked into the hall to find the entirety of it filled with students dressed up for the ball.

I found Weiss in her usual clothes except she didn't have on a 'combat' skirt, but was wearing a long white dress that looked like it sparkled like ice. Yang wore a long golden dress with foreign patterns on it, probably from where her parents were from. Blake was wearing a black and white dress that really fit her well while their team leader, Roxanne got a rust red dress.

"Hi guys," I greeted and suddenly found myself in a headlock thanks to Yang.

"Look at you Lady Killer! All suited up and ready to take a girl for a night on the town!" she laughed as she rubbed her knuckles on my previously combed blonde hair that she just now messed up.

"Yang!" I groaned loudly and she let me go, laughing.

However, the moment I started fixing my hair, I got attacked by a girl with the same color hair as mine.

"Jaune!" my sister squealed in joy and I gasped loudly in surprise and pain from the bear hug. "Wassup bro!"

"Artie you're killing me," I wheezed and she let go, giggling.

"Jaune, who's this?" I heard and turned to see Pyrrha walking over, an expression of jealousy on her face.

"Oh, Pyrrha. This is my sister Arthelle. Artie, this is my girlfriend, Pyrrha," I introduced and Artie just laughed as the rest of her team stood behind her, heads tilted and faces in shock.

"Sorry, sorry, I thought I heard you say girlfriend," she said, wiping a fake tear.

"I did say girlfriend," I said back and her eyes widened.

"Oh, well, that's... uh, yeah..." she trailed off, face red as she looked at the ground.

"Is something wrong sis?" I asked, tilting my head in confusion, but she looked back up with that usual smile back on her face.

"Nah, just shocked you got a girl before I got a guy," she laughed and slung an arm around me. "So how's school! You being an Arc like me?"

"Uh, well Pyrrha's been helping me a lot in combat training and in class too," I explained and she nodded at my explanations, but I could tell she was tuning it all out. "You're not listening are you?"

"Nah," she said and walked over to Yang and co. "So who're you guys?"

"Yang Xiao Long"

"Blake Belladona"

"Roxanne Redruick"

"Weiss Schnee"

"Nora Valkyrie"

"Lie Ren"

They all smiled at her and she smiled back, putting a hand on her hip as she put her weight on one side of her.

"Arthelle Arc, huntress supreme!" she maniacally laughed while her team groaned. "Oh and those bozos are Herold Lexingfors, Ryuu Himura, and Aiden Hereln. We're Team AHRA!"

She pumped her fist in the air, but Herold grabbed it and pulled it down, shaking his head.

"Boss you're embarrassing yourself again," he groaned and she puffed out her cheeks at him, making a pout that worked on everyone, like Ruby's smil-

I stopped, remembering Ruby, but swallowed down the emotions. I put on my best fake smile and hooked my arms with Pyrrha as we walked to the ball. Soon enough we were there and I spotted Artie in a pearl white dress now, her teammates all wearing suits of different colors.

Suddenly, someone bumped into me and I turned to see red hair.

"Sorry Pyrrha," I apologized, and put my hand on her arm, but she turned to show a younger, smaller girl with blue eyes. "Oh, sorry, you're not my girlfriend."

She stared at me, eyes wide and I tilted my head in confusion.

"Are you okay?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. I'm totally fine," she responded, speaking quickly.

I squinted my eyes, feeling something. Her voice was familiar and her face was... familiar too.

"Do I know you?"

"Uh..." she trailed off, but another girl came by, someone with blonde hair and grabbed her.

"Come on Sapphire!" she shouted over the noise of the crowd in the ballroom.

"Sapphire?" I murmured before Pyrrha grabbed my arm and led me to the dance floor.

* * *

Ruby POV  


"That was close," I sighed as I walked over to Penny with Kaylen.

"I almost lost you in the crowd, _Sapphire_," Kaylen happily exclaimed as we made it to our ginger friend.

"Hey Penny," I greeted and she smiled at me as she drank some punch.

"Hello Ru- Sapphire."

Before we had gotten to Beacon, we had made up the name Sapphire Petunia. It was a pretty funny story, but I was more focused now on trying not to get caught here.

"Come on cuz, have some punch," Kaylen giggled and handed me a cup.

My sipping turned into a full gulp as I took the punch in the cup down my throat.

"Tastes good," I said and she smiled, patting me on the back.

Soon the stage lit up as a group of people stepped out.

"No way," Kaylen gasped as we all looked, wide eyed at The Achieve Hunters.

"Alright everybody! It's time for the concert!"

People everywhere in the ballroom and outside the ballroom cheered loudly as they started. People were silent, some cheers here and there as they began playing Blood Gulch Blues. The concert went on through the night, the occasional interlude where they'd pull stunts. At one point Ray and Gavin or better known in their comics a X-Ray and Vav showed up in costume on stage and beat up some guys in Grimm costumes.

"Alright kids! Tonight we got a special song written for you all!" Geoff shouted and the crowd went wild. Suddenly, he spoke again, but it wasn't as enthusiastic, more like solemn. "After the death of a student here, we ended up writing a song about it."

People started realizing that he was talking about me and I now noticed angered expressions and people muttering cuss words silently.

"So this song needs two people! One dude and one girl!" Ray shouted into the mic and hands flew up immediately.

I saw every single person I knew with their hand up, except Jaune who had his forcefully pulled up by Pyrrha who also had her hand up.

"Come on Sapphire!" Kaylen laughed as she pulled my hand up.

"No Kaylen," I growled and pulled my hand away, but I was to slow as Geoff's finger pointed at me.

"You there in the back, small girl in black!"

People around us looked for black until all eyes landed on me. I looked at everyone in confusion until I looked at my black coat and pointed a myself in shock. He nodded and I got shoved forward by Kaylen who, with Penny's help shoved me through the crowd, up the stairs, and onto the stage.

"Uh, uh..." I trailed off in fear as Michael put a mic in front of me.

"What's your name kid?"

"Uh... R- Sapphire... Sapphire Petunia," I answered as quick as I could and people murmured, gossiping about my name.

"Nice name, now let's get a guy up here!" the Achieve Hunter bellowed and all the boys in the ballroom and outside raised their arms.

"Let's see," Ryan spoke as he put a hand over his eyes, shading them from the spotlight. "I choose... you blonde kid over there!"

All eyes went to the one of the people I didn't and really did want up here. Jaune's eyes went wide as he got pushed forward by Pyrrha and slowly walked up the stage.

"Uh, hi," he said to me and The Achieve Hunters.

"Good to see you again kid," Geoff said as he handed him a mic while Gavin gave me one. "Now what's your name?"

"J-Jaune Ar-Arc," he stuttered and the audience gave a groan of annoyance, a silent one, but it was still noticeable.

A large screen appeared above the crowd and words showed up on it. The Achieve Hunters started setting up, gathering their instruments with smiles plastered on their faces.

"Wait for us to stop playing, then start singing," Jack said as he pointed at the screen. "It'll tell you when Jaune sings or when Sapphire sings."

"Alright Beacon Academy! This one's for you!" Geoff shouted as they started playing.

They strummed their guitars, a rock like theme playing as a choir like noise played. Suddenly, it cut out and the words lit up.

"You're up," Jaune whispered and I stuttered for a bit before gathering up my courage to sing.

_I couldn't take it, couldn't stand another minute;_  
_Couldn't bear another day without you in it. _  
_All of the joy that I had known for all my life_  
_Was stripped away from me the minute that you died._

The crowd's eyes went wide as I sang, letting out the emotions, the exhilaration. I remembered my time here at Beacon before the incident, everything that had happened, all the friends I had made, and our friendships. The sound of The Achieve Hunter's instruments playing was heard underneath my voice as I sang, the mixing of my voice and their rock.

_ To have you in my life was all I ever wanted,  
But now without you I'm a soul forever haunted.  
Can't help but feel that I had taken you for granted;  
No way in Hell that I can ever comprehend this._

_ I wasn't dreaming when they told me you were gone,  
I was wide awake and feeling that they had to be wrong.  
How could you leave me when you swore that you would stay?  
Now I'm trapped inside a nightmare every single f'ing day._

_ It's like a movie, but there's not a happy ending;  
Every scene fades black, and there's no pretending.  
This little fairy tale doesn't seem to end well,  
There's no knight in shining armor who will wake me from the spell._

_ I know you didn't plan this;  
You tried to do what's right.  
But in the middle of this madness,  
I'm the one you left to win this fight._

_ Red like roses  
Fills my head with dreams and finds me  
Always closer  
To the emptiness and sadness  
That has come to take the place of you._

The name on the screen switched to Jaune and he almost dropped his mic before I started stuttering like I did. I jabbed him with my elbow quickly and he started singing with me. The crowd wasn't as impressed with him, but slowly his singing got better and their eyes went wide again.

_ I know you're broken down by anger and by sadness;  
You feel I left you in a world that's full of madness.  
Wish I could talk to you, if only for a minute;  
Make you understand the reasons why I did it._

_ I wanna tell you that you're all that ever mattered;  
Want you to know that, for eternity, I'm shattered.  
__ I tried so hard just to protect you, but I failed to,  
__And in a prison of abandonment I've jailed you._

_ I never planned that I would leave you there alone,  
I was sure that I would see you when I made it back home.  
And all the times I swore that it would be okay;  
Now I'm nothing but a liar, and you're thrown into the fray._

_ This bedtime story ends with misery ever after,  
The pages are torn, and there's no final chapter.  
I didn't have a choice, I did what I had to do;  
I made a sacrifice, but forced a bigger sacrifice on you._

_ I know you've lived a nightmare;  
I caused you so much pain.  
But, baby, please don't do what I did;  
I don't want you to waste your life in vain._

It went back to me and I started my voice again, singing the lyrics again. I saw Kaylen giving me a thumbs up and Penny with her eyes and mouth wide. Team RWBY and JNPR stared in awe while everyone else was in shock and awe the same way, but not in the way the people I personally knew were.

_ Red like roses  
Fills my head with dreams and finds me  
Always closer  
To the emptiness and sadness  
That has come to take the place of you._

Jaune started singing now, his words striking my heart just like mine probably were. There was cheering for a bit as he sung, people now energized by the rock song.

_ You're not the only one who needed me; I thought you understood. _

It switched back to me and I started singing again, the words obviously having an affect on Yang and Jaune as I saw their expressions change to guilt.

_You were the one I needed, and you left me as I always feared you would. _

The next words caused Jaune to put in more power to them as he grit his teeth before opening his mouth to sing.

_Would I change it if I could? _

The words next stung me as I realized that my real friends were going to feel this.

_It doesn't matter how,  
__The petals scatter now. _

_Every nightmare just discloses  
It's your blood that's red like roses, __  
And no matter what I do,  
Nothing ever takes the place of you._

_Red like roses  
Fills my head with dreams and finds me  
Always closer  
To the emptiness and sadness  
That has come to take the _

_Place  
O__f  
You_

There was silence for a moment as I finished before everyone erupted into cheers. I looked over at Jaune and saw him staring at me, a guilty look on his face, but most of it covered by enthusiastic old Jaune. I smiled at him and he smiled back as The Achieve Hunters cheered.

"Kiss Kiss Kiss!"

The crowd was chanting and both our cheeks grew red as Pyrrha turned as bright red as her hair, anger going through her as we both stared at her. Before we knew it I was shoved into Jaune as he was shoved into me compliments of Yang and Kaylen. Who knew blondes were so ferociously dangerous about stuff like this?

"I uh..." he spoke, blushing as red as my hidden cloak as I did the same.

"We don't have too..." I responded and he nodded, rubbing the back of his head.

I couldn't help myself as I felt my body go on auto-pilot. My leaned forward, pushing my feet up till I was on the tip of my toes, our heads almost at the same height. His eyes went wide and everything felt right like before I was almost murdered, before I met Mr. Smith, before all this crazy stuff happened, but not before I got my crush on Jaune.

In an instant my hands were on him and his on me as our lips met and the crowd went wild. Our eyes were closed, but I could feel the heat from Pyrrha's shocked expression turned into a furious glare at me. Our lips parted and his eyes went wide in shock.

"Oh, I'm sorry- I didn't mean too-"

I didn't let him finish as I turned and ran backstage, the crowd unsure of what just happened.

* * *

Third Person POV

Ruby leaned against the wall, throwing the wig down and wiping her face of tears that just wiped her make up off.

"What did I just do?" she murmured, asking herself a question she thought would be reserved for later on in life.

She had kissed her crush, the crush who had a girlfriend of his own. Now what was she suppose to do? She couldn't just go back now, she couldn't leave with Mr. Smith to go back to Magnus without telling Jaune goodbye. Then he'd probably figure out who she was! She couldn't risk tha-

"Hey!"

She flipped up her red hood as she turned to look at Jaune as he ran over to her.

"Hey, I'm sorry about... I'm sorry about kissing you... and I'm sorry about-"

She put a finger on his lips as she looked down, using the shade her hood was making as a cover for everything below her eyes.

"Just... just please... please just... just-" she stuttered, unable to say anything, but those two words.

"I uh..." he trailed off as they both awkwardly stood there. "You taste like roses."

She perked up at that.

_"I tasted like roses? How did he know what roses tasted like? And how did I taste like roses? I should taste like cookies!" she furiously thought, blushing madly at what he said and what she was thinking._

"Um, you taste like... I dunno," 'Sapphire' said and they both sheepishly laughed.

"So do you have a boyfriend?" he nervously asked, probably afraid of what her 'boyfriend' could do to him.

"N-no," she quickly stuttered, blushing and he noticed.

"Oh, well I have a girlfriend, Pyrrha. You remember me calling you that right?"

"Y-yeah," Ruby responded and he rubbed the back of his head again. "S-so when did you start dating?"

"Well, after my friend, Ruby, you know the one they made the song that we sang after. Well, she died and well... Pyrrha was there for me, she helped me get over her because I liked her and well... I didn't know if she liked me."

Ruby didn't know how to respond, she didn't even know what he was saying after 'liked her'. He had as much of a crush on her as she did on him.

"Well she helped me get over Ruby after her death-"

She stopped thinking again, now angry like she was a couple days ago in town.

"She's not dead," she said, shakily, her voice quivering in anger.

"What?" he gasped, his eyes wide in shock, but quickly narrowing in anger. "What did you say?"

"I said she's not dea-"

She didn't get to finish as he grabbed the front of her dress and pulled her so he was staring down at what little he could see of her face.

"Don't lie to me!" he yelled in anger as tears started dripping out of his eyes. "I know she's dead! So don't lie to me about that! Don't make it harder or me!"

"I'm not lying," the very much alive Ruby spoke as she wringed his hands off of her dress. "I... I know her."

"You what?" he asked, his voice still full of anger, but now having renewed hope for his crush. "She's really alive?"

Ruby realized what was coming and she shook her head, trying to fix this. She couldn't let him know, not yet. She needed to get stronger, he could slip and tell, everyone would know, they'd come after her again, she wouldn't be ready!

"No, no she's dead," she said and turned to walk away when his hand gripped her hood.

"Don't lie to m-" he stopped in mid yell as the hood fell down and showed her crimson hair, strands and lines of hair colored crimson while most of it deepened into a dark red to near black color.

They both stopped, Jaune's eyes so wide that an Airship could fly through one eye and out the other. Ruby's fears were now realized as she felt a cool breeze from the vents brush past her face and make her hair sway a bit, now free of her rose red hood. Tears started welling up, knowing she had lost the game as she looked back a bit.

Jaune's blue eyes caught sight of silver ones and he knew this was the girl he had crushed on, the girl he had just sang with, the girl... the girl he had kissed.

"Ruby?" he gasped and suddenly his vision was filled with red.

He thought this was anger like in those stories he'd sometimes read, but then he realized it was rose petals. There were rose petals going down the hall as he realized this was her semblance, Ruby's semblance. She had run, Ruby had gotten away from him again, the day they actually kissed, and she rejected him.

He just stared down the hall, eyes still wide and mouth gaping as he thought all of this over.

_"Ruby's alive... Ruby's alive... Ruby's ali- I kissed Ruby! Oh God, I kissed Ruby!"_

It all played in his head, small phrases, sometimes complete sentences.

_"Ruby Arc, Jaune Rose, Ruby Arc-Rose, Ruby Rose-Arc, Jaune Rose-Arc," he thought, thinking of marriage names, who's last name they'd use._

Then it clicked in his head, she was gone. Ruby was gone again, but not gone gone, just... gone. Did she reject him?

"Jaune Arc!"

He spun around in shock, stumbling back and slipping on the red wig that Ruby had used as a disguise, sending it sliding underneath a cart with concert equipment for the famous band on stage.

"Pyrrha?" he gasped loudly as she stormed over to him.

"You kissed that girl!"

"N-no! No no no!" he yelled desperately as she grabbed him by the coat of his tuxedo. "She leaned in and pulled me down! She pulled me down!"

Pyrrha's tears were brimming, but she wiped them before her lips met Jaune's. Jaune was shocked, but kissed back, the whole time realizing that the feeling the back of his head was the feeling of doubt.

_"This isn't right," he thought, his mind running now, running faster than Oobleck when he was drinking caffeinated coffee with adrenaline running in him. "The kiss with Ruby... that kiss was right."_

She pulled away and hugged him, crying into his chest.

"Don't ever let anyone do that to you again," she wept, holding him as he awkwardly held her. "I don't want to lose you!"

To Pyrrha, she thought she was winning his heart when she saw the smile on his face. For Jaune, he knew what he had to do. If that was really Ruby, if that kiss was real, then he needed to find her, and make things right.

* * *

Ruby POV

"What did I do?" I mumbled as I sat on the edge of the cliff that overlooked the Emerald Forest. "What did I do!"

I screamed out loud, letting out the anger and sadness, the pent up emotions I just wanted gone. That kiss was the best and worst thing to ever happen. It felt like my heart was going to explode and my belly was going to get shredded by the butterflies in them.

I fell down onto my butt and held my knees to my chest, putting my face inside of my crossed arms as I cried. I didn't care about the dress, I had torn it off and redressed into jeans and a t-shirt at Kaylen's car. All I cared about was thinking of a way to fix this, but I knew that the only way would be to knock out Jaune and somehow make some special dust to take away his memory, even that was just to crazy of an idea.

"What should I do?" I whined as I stared out at the broken moon above that lit up the entirety of Beacon.

Suddenly, there was an explosion at the academy and I turned around, looking I that direction as I saw a large cloud of smoke rise up from the courtyard as a bright glow of orange and yellow lit it up.

"Oh no," I murmured as I sped forward, knowing this couldn't be any good.

* * *

**To be continued...**

**Hahahahahahahaha!**

**Cliffhanger!**

**Oh you guys are so going to hate me**

**Anyways, there's the romance**

**JaunexRuby everyone!**

**Now all that's left is every other romance I can think up**

**So let's get moving on to the next chapter which I am working on**

**Review, Favorite, and Follow**

**Sincerely,  
Lord Revan Flame**


	13. Beacon Ballroom Blitz

**Welcome back viewers!**

**Here we are once more with the next chapter**

**You all seemed to have loved the last one**

**Red Like Roses Part 2**

**Best thing ever**

**Also, I saw RWBY Volume 2 Chapter 3**

**Needless to say, I felt so much energy I had to beat myself and rip some hair off of myself to calm down**

**It didn't really work so I played some SWTOR**

**That kinda helped**

**Now here we go**

**Hopefully the last chapter got your blood pumping for this chapter**

**So let's go!**

* * *

Jaune POV

It all happened so fast, Pyrrha and I were in the hall, me trying to make it up to her after that kiss with Sapphi- Ruby. Before she noticed the rose petals everywhere, there was a loud boom and we all ran out to the ballroom to see everyone looking at the front door. Outside, something had fought its way through the courtyard to here and now we looked at a everyone who got blown back. A bunch of debris flown over everyone and had crashed into the stage while a bunch of fires started spreading.

Nora was laying on top of Ren, both of them unconscious while Yang was slowly getting up, a scowl on her face. Roxanne was out of it, Weiss was holding her partially burnt dress, and Blake was holding her head. Team CRDL was getting, up wiping off dust and soot off their suits.

"Jaune!" I heard and looked back to see Artie running over to me, eyes wide. "What just happened?"

"I don't-"

I was cut off as a haze of bullets shot through the smoke and blasted the back of the ballroom up. The Achieve Hunters had already retreated backstage so we didn't have to worry about civilian deaths or injuries.

"What the hell is that?" one of Artie's teammates, Herold asked as a massive robot walked into the ballroom.

It stood on two legs, arched like dog legs with a bunch of metal plating on them. Its feet were huge and had multiple toe like clamps to keep it from falling back or forward or anyway around it. The top had a massive, metal skull of some big animal while on its sides it had two large, bulky arms with four gun barrels on either arm.

"Is that a giant robot?" I asked with wide eyes as it started shooting again.

We jumped out of the way as bullets pelted the ground everywhere. Huntsman, Huntresses, and students started running, scattering to cars or dorms to get their weapons to fight this thing.

"Ha ha ha ha ha!" a loud laugh resounded from the robot and the front opened up to show a man inside, a really familiar guy with fiery orange hair and in a white suit. "Hey kids! How's the party!"

He fired again and almost shredded Nora and Ren if it hadn't been for Ryuu who grabbed both of them and jumped out of the way.

"Torchwick!" Yang screeched and flew at him, but he swung a mechanical arm, the guns on it shifting so they went close to the arm before armor plating covered them.

She got caught and flew back into a pillar, falling over with it.

"Now, now. That isn't very nice Blonde," he laughed and stomped a mechanical foot, making us fall off our feet and on our butts.

"Torchwick!" we heard another person shout and saw Prof. Goodwitch at the hole that was the door to the ballroom before he crashed the ball.

"Aw, Glynda. Good to see you!" the crime lord laughed and pointed his guns at her. "How about we catch up over a nice killing?"

He stared firing, but she stopped he bullets in mid air, a soft glow of purple over each bullet as they halted. She waved her crop and the projectiles flew back at him, causing him to close his armor suit and take the hits.

The mech stumbled back a bit before regaining its hold on the ground. Bending over a bit, we saw a large backpack thing on it and realized what the holes in it were for.

"Rockets!" Aiden shouted as we all ducked.

Multiple rocket missiles shot at the teacher who swung her crop again and sent them flying out the windows into the sky.

"Holy crap!" I shouted as the courtyard blew up.

Torchwick's robo-suit started fighting everyone as they all came at him. I could hear his laugh from speakers built into the armor as the attacks bounced off his robot.

"What is that thing made out of?" Yang asked as we stared it down.

"High grade Hard Steel plating, five inches thick with the best tech in the world!" Roman laughed out loud as he punched two mechanized fists together. "Now come at me kiddies!"

* * *

Ruby POV

"No no no noooo," I mumbled as I finally made it to the ballroom after jumping across the dorms' roofs.

I looked down through the glass of the skylight and saw a giant robot tearing its way through the students and Hunters.

"Oh no," I said again, but then caught sight of familiar blonde hair. "Kaylen."

She was down, holding a bleeding wound on her arm as the bot approached her.

"Well aren't you a cute little thing," I heard an all to familiar voice speak.

"Torchwick," I growled as he pointed eight gun barrels at my friend.

"To bad you gotta di-"

He never finished as two short swords impaled one of his arms and he got pulled to the right by them since there were chains connected to the pummel of both of them. A guy, tall and muscular appeared, wearing a white vest over nothing that revealed a buff chest with a red tattoo of traditional markings going all the way up the left side of his body, not stopping as it went up his neck and face. He had blonde hair, burning like when Yang's hair caught fire and blue eyes glowed with his aura.

"That's my girlfriend!" he roared and pulled the mechanical monster to the right.

Suddenly, another blonde guy, his hair all messy jumped out of nowhere and clamped to large gauntlets together, both of them combining into a large cannon that he fired, sending a shell into the bot's side. While the metal didn't dent, just scorched, the force was enough to make Torchwick stumble.

The second new guy cheered, pumping the cannon up in the air. He looked like the other blonde guy, but skinnier and taller. He wore a white lab coat over regular t-shirt and jeans while also having a pair of goggles on his head, the lens tinted blue like his eyes.

Finally, a third new guy came in, wielding a large sword which he swung. A loud bang resounded like he fired a shotgun and he went flying at the bot, the sheer force of his attack stabbing the blade deep into its arm, the same arm the first guy stabbed already.

"Don't mess with our healer!" he shouted, gritting his teeth as he pulled his large sword out and jumped off.

He had long, dark green hair and wore a black hoodie with a white circle symbol on it over a red shirt. His eyes glowed red, not burning or seething, just burning like small red suns. He had on an angry face, not exactly showing emotion, but still having a frown that said, "I'm going to tear you apart."

"Guys!" Kaylen shouted in joy as the three guys stood behind her, eyes trained on the Torchwick bot.

"Hey," the red tattoo guy said and I realized this was her team.

"We got Team KCLD back together!" the messy blonde cheered as he unlocked his cannon and reverted it back into his gauntlets. **(Clad)**

The bot aimed its guns again at them, but a bunch of bullets shot at its stabbed arm, blowing it up.

"Hey!" Aiden shouted, waving his blaster pistols in the air. "Come on you big hunk of junk!"

I could hear Torchwick roar as he started shooting at the green tuxedo clad man. Before the bullets could hit him I saw Arthelle appear in front of him and spread her arms out. The sleeves of her dress ripped open revealing her armor pads as they transformed and opened up to show more armored pads.

Soon her dress was torn up leaving her in a armored suit made up of pearl white armored plates. She glared at the robot as more armored plates came up and transformed over her head, a mouthplate sliding into place giving her a full armored knight look.

She shot her arm back, twitching her fingers, signaling for someone to give her something. Herold ran in and threw her, her longsword, the blade shimmering in the light of the lights built into the ceiling and the fires that flickered. She caught it and got in a stance, staring down the crime lord.

"You got a lot of nerve attacking the Beacon Ball," she growled in a muffled voice and charged, sliding the tip of the blade across the floor and making a flurry of sparks trail behind her.

Swinging, she slashed the bot across one leg, severing some cords and cutting a small crevice into a hydraulic pump. She dodged a swing from one arm and stabbed it in the back of its leg.

"Ah!" we all heard Torchwick yell in rage as he swung and caught her.

She flew into a wall, but quickly got out, the armor she wore keeping her from going down.

"Hey!" I heard a familiar voice shout as Yang ran at Torchwick's robo soldier.

She punched her fist into its nearly broken arm and made it explode completely, sending chunks of metal and a large cloud of sparks flying. It stumbled from the explosion and ran into Nora who slammed Magnhild into its side, sending it stumbling into Weiss who made an ice spike stab at it.

The ice shattered and it almost fell on her except Blake ran over and pulled her out of the way. The robot desperately opened fire at everything around it. Everyone ducked for cover and in the best idea that rust colored chick could, she grabbed one of Nora's grenades and threw it at the robot.

It exploded and the gun pointed straight up... wait, it's pointed up at-

I didn't finish that thought as bullets whizzed up into the sky light I was looking through. Bullets drilled through the ceiling and made the section of the roof I was on collapse. Before I knew it I was in a cloud of soot and dust, coughing up the dirty stuff.

"Bleh, ew ew ew," I whined as I started rubbing off soot from my cloak, now colored blackish grey.

"Oh son of a- Well what do we have here?"

I froze and turned, my hood covering my face as I looked up from the shade it was giving me to see Torchwick's bot in front of me.

"Now you look so adorable, kinda remind me of Little Red. That kid needs to learn where her place is!"

He aimed his remaining firing arm at me, but was stopped from shooting when a spire of stone rubble struck him. I looked back to see Prof. Goodwitch with Prof. Port and Prof. Oobleck prepared to fight him.

"Peter, covering fire, Oobleck, distract him, I'll hit head on," the blonde teacher ordered as she waved her crop and created a storm of ice shards that came down and impaled themselves into the weakened chassis of the robot.

"Hey! This cost me a lot of Lien!" Torchwick shouted in anger as he tried to get a good shot in.

I looked around for some way to escape and eyed a bunch of airships leaving Beacon with the wounded. I smiled and started to run when I heard a cry of pain. I looked over, wide eyed as Ms. Goodwitch fell to her knees, a bullet in her shoulder.

"Now, now Glynda. That's no way to treat an old friend now is it?"

"And shooting me is?" she growled at the robo soldier.

I looked at the airship, then at the teacher before sighing.

"All a days work for Ruby Rose," I murmured as I ran over and stood in front of Glynda Goodwitch protectively.

* * *

Benedict POV

"What do you mean Beacon's under attack!" I roared at the doctor.

Only an hour ago I was sipping hot cocoa while in the hospital cafeteria having already healed most of my wound. I was able to walk around now, give or take an hour or so before the pain killers I took lost their effect.

"Some big bot being controlled by Roman Torchwick is attacking Beacon! We're getting so many wounded in to fast, we can't set up all of this in time for the next set of wounded!"

"Then we cut off the source," I said as I eyed the airship outside. "How fast are those?"

"The airships?" he asked and I nodded. "I don't know!"

"Good enough for me," I replied as I grabbed Dust Knight, the weapon having been given to me by Ranulf when he visited a couple days prior to my reawakening.

* * *

Third Person POV

"You're such a brave little thing," Torchwick complimented as he pointed his remaining gun arm along with several missile pods in the robot's chest at the disguised Ruby.

"Get out of here," Glynda said through grit teeth, but her words fell on deaf ears or rather ignorant ears as the 15 year old looked for a way to stop Torchwick without compromising her identity.

"Who are you anyway?"

"Sapphire Petunia," she stated and nearby, Jaune's eyes widened.

"It's her," he whispered softly as he watched Ruby stare down the bot.

"Nice little name kid, to bad that's the last time you'll say i-" he stopped, staring at something at the large hole that was once the entrance to the ballroom. "No way."

Ruby turned and saw an unsuspecting sight before her and the rest of the remaining fighters. Benedict stood there, morning star set on his shoulder as he glared at the mechanical monstrosity.

"What vile creation have you made Roman?" he questioned, walking forward slowly as he swung Dust Knight down, letting the weapon sway back and forth at his side.

"You like it Ben? Bit of Schnee tech, bit of my own creative mind, and a bit of my associate's money. I'm just kidding, it's all their money!"

He pointed the gun at Benedict and fired, only for it to be blocked by a strike of lightning that shot out from behind the veteran hunter and incinerated the lead projectiles before striking the bot. It stumbled back from the impact as Ozpin's hand smoked a bit from his use of his semblance.

"Hello Ben," the headmaster greeted as he took his side with his ex-teammate.

"Greetings Ozpin, how's life?"

"I should be asking you that."

"Oh, just got shot twice by a robot mercenary hell bent on recreating the artifact."

"Shot twice?" he asked and Benedict pointed to the bandages wrapped around his chest and shoulder.

"Took some pain killers and used some healing dust before I got here, should let me fight for a while, but it will hurt like hell tomorrow."

"All in a days work old friend," Ozpin stated as a smirked graced his lips. "Plan?"

"Well we don't have the girls here so no four person plans," the veteran stated as Torchwick managed to regain full control of his bot, the lightning strike temporarily cutting off his connection. "Hey, remember Devak? That move we pulled that made Naomi all jittery from excitement?"

"Yes, how can I forget. You tossed me straight at that King Manti-"

Ozpin stopped, closing his eyes before sighing, his smirk now a frown as he got up from his stance, looking at his ex-teammate.

"Are we really going to-"

"Yes"

"...Aim better this time," the headmaster stated as he concentrated on his semblance, letting electricity crackle all over him, small jumps of lightning going up his arms and jumping from shoulder to shoulder.

He stepped forward, in front of Benedict as he himself pulled both arms back on his right, aura condensing into a spherical, transparent shape. Ozpin jumped into the air, flipping so his feet landed in the sudden blast of aura his friend sent at him. The sheer force of the attack launched the headmaster across the ballroom at the robot as it finally got onto its feet. Raising both arms and interlocking his fingers, Ozpin smashed his fists onto the bot, an enormous shockwave of electrical energy blasting out from the contact.

It stumbled back again, this time shutting down as it fell backwards onto its metal behind.

"Ahahahaha!" Benedict laughed triumphantly while Ozpin rubbed his hands, feeling the tingling feeling that the attack left behind.

"You know the last time we tried that I almost died right?"

"That was because we were near a cliff," Benedict scoffed and Ozpin rolled his eyes.

"Ever the optimist aren't we Ben?" he said with a smirk as his hand patted the veteran's shoulder. "So might I ask? Why have you returned to Beacon?"

"Like I said, got shot twice, had a big hole in my chest and another in my shoulder. A kid saved my life thought," he stated while Ruby watched from a distance, hiding behind a cracked pillar. "Got sent to the hospital here in Vale, just got healed enough that I can walk."

"Yes, well when do those pain killers wear off?"

"Oh, those, I guess about no- ah," he gasped in pain and arched his back as he fell into Ozpin.

"Oh for God's sake," the headmaster groaned as he waved at a nurse to come over and help him. "Everyone start tending to the wounded!"

Suddenly, there was a loud banging noise from the robot and everyone watched Torchwick open up the mech and clamber out, falling forward and rolling down a hill of debris before stopping at he bottom.

"Oh son of a-" he cut himself as he saw the entirety of Beacon glaring at him. "Oh, h-hey there- whoa!"

He yelled in surprise and fear as Yang ran up and grabbed him by the front of his white suit.

"Now, now let's use are words," he said, attempting to calm down the blonde brawler whose little sister was his nemesis.

"How about we use are fists!" Yang practically screamed in his face as she raised Ember Celica.

"Now Ms. Xiao Long," Ozpin spoke as he handed Benedict's writhing form to several nurses. "Let's not injure him to much, he should have useful information for us."

* * *

Ruby POV

The Next Day

"Ow," I whined as Benedict finished wrapping the bandage around my broken ribs.

"Should've looked through a window and not a sky light," he scolded and I huffed in anger making him laugh.

Since last night, Benedict had taken me to the hospital with the rest of the injured students.

"So why am I not getting healing dust?" I asked and he snapped a finger in my face, making me jump back in surprise.

"Cause you were stupid enough to do what you did."

I looked down in disappointment until I felt a warm feeling in my ribs. I looked to see a red glow coming from my mentor's hand as he used healing dust on me.

"And this is for saving Glynda's life. Bravery and courage are two things that make up a hunter," he proudly stated and I smiled.

"Well it's what a huntress would do so I did it. It was nothing really special," I responded and he shook his said while making a clicking noise with his tongue.

"And humbleness is the benchmark for a legendary hunter," he laughed and patted me on the back.

"Wouldn't it be humility? Not humbleness?" I asked and he turned red, probably realizing I was right.

"Well I- I well... shut up," he scoffed while I giggled uncontrollably.

"Ruby!" Penny squealed as she grabbed me in a hug after running into the hospital room.

"Penny you're squishing me," I wheezed and she let go.

My ginger friend had been hit over the head with a piece of flying debris last night and got knocked out. We found her laying with a bloody forehead so we bandaged her and now she's here with me.

"So how was last night?" Benedict asked as we left the hospital.

"Well I sang a song with The Achieve Hunters, drank punch, had a good time-"

"She kissed a boy!" Penny blurted out and I turned red plus saw red as I looked at her.

"Oh, okay... Wait, what!" Benedict freaked out and my vision went back to normal, but my cheeks put my cloak to shame. "You kissed a boy?"

"Uh, yeah," I said, looking down while twiddling my fingers.

"Well, I guess you're growing up," he said with a smile and my blush just grew.

"So you're okay with that?"

"Eh, my first kiss was in my third year at Beacon, I can understand you having your first during your first year, besides you were moved up two years."

"Oh yeah," I said as I kept my smile.

"Ruby?"

I stopped at the familiar voice and turned around to come face to face with a brown haired girl. She was short, like me, but a little taller. Her hair was cut short so it came to her chin and her brown eyes were like cocoa beans.

"Evelyn?" I asked, recognizing my old friend.

"Do you know her?" Benedict asked and I nodded as she kept staring at me.

"She's from Signal, you know because I moved up two years."

"You sent letters," Evelyn said as she walked up to me, "but they stopped one day, then Yang said you died!"

"Well, I didn't?" I sheepishly replied and she kept staring at me.

"Quick summary, she's alive and training under me," Mr. Smith said as he looked at the girl in front of us.

"Oh," my old friend said and Penny tilted her head in confusion while we just looked. "So what happened that you have a bandage?"

She pointed at my ribs where the white cloth was wrapped around.

"Oh, Beacon got attacked and I was there when it did," I answered and her eyes went wide as she gaped in horror. "B-but it's fine now, it's all fine now!"

"O-okay," she sighed in relief, stuttering a bit from the shock. "So why didn't you write anymore letters?"

"Oh, I forgot too," I sighed in defeat and she laughed.

"That's just like you Ruby, always up to something big," she laughed and I frowned at her.

"Excuse me, but if we could keep moving," Benedict asked as he pointed down the street, "Ozpin wants us at Beacon to talk about stuff."

"Oh right, well Eve, could you not talk about me being alive?"

"Uh, why?" she asked, raising and eyebrow in confusion.

"Everyone thinks I'm dead and I need to keep it that way," I answered and she looked at me curiously before nodding.

"Okay, I can do that, but you oh me," she replied and I smiled.

"Sure do buddy," I said and we high fived.

We walked away after that and soon I was sleeping on the airship to Beacon.

"Come on kid, get up," Mr. Smith said with a bit of joy at seeing me groan.

"But it's so nice sleeping on this comfy chair."

"You mean Penny's lap?"

My eyes snapped open and I looked up at Penny's big green eyes staring a me.

"Uh, yeah I'm up!" I said as I jumped up, embarrassed.

He laughed and patted my back again before we stepped back onto Beacon's grounds. The courtyard was in ruins, currently being rebuilt by a team of workers. Some of the arches were cracked and destroyed while the pathway was dotted with a bunch of giant footprints from Torchwick's robot.

Speaking of the ginger crime lord, I heard he was being held in Beacon's dungeon. Who knew they had a dungeon?

"Hey, pay attention," I heard and looked up at Benedict.

He was pointing at the statue they had of the guy and the girl on top of the Beowolf.

"You know that statue?"

"Uh, no," I admitted and he looked disappointed. "I never really studied it."

"Neither did I," he said as all three of us stared at it. "I guess the world will never know its origins."

"On the contrary," we heard and turned to see Ozpin behind us. "It's origins may be found in the Beacon Archives located below the dungeons."

"Ozpin, old friend!" my mentor shouted with joy, but he stared blankly at him.

"Don't hug me," he said and the veteran hunter let his arms down in disappointment.

"Always sucking the joy out of things aren't we?" he replied and Ozpin smirked.

"I'm not so sure about that Ben, I am the one who suggested Peter call his cousin."

"Wait, Prof. Port and Ryan are cousins?" I asked, wide eyed.

I quickly regretted speaking up when he noticed me. Last night we had cleaned by red cloak, but I decided it was best to hide it so we kept it at Kaylen's place while Ben lent me his black coat. So now he's just wearing a grey dress shirt over an undershirt. I also got a black hoodie from one of Kaylen's teammates, I think his name was Dante.

"And who might you be?" he asked, not recognizing me from underneath the dark hood.

"S-sapphire Petunia," I quickly answered.

"Oh, nice name Ruby," he replied and I sighed in relief before realizing he had used my real name.

"You know I'm-"

"I am the headmaster of Beacon Academy, I accept the strongest in will and cannot be easily fooled. I do believe I can distinguish a false identity from the real one."

"Same old Ozpin," Ben laughed and so did Ozpin.

"Now, would you mind telling me the reasons of your disappearance?" he questioned and I felt sweat building on me.

"She won't answer you," my mentor cut in and I sighed silently in relief. "It took me a while to learn how she left, even then it was because I was eavesdropping."

"Well, I'll be a lit less aggressive and more diplomatic," the silver haired huntsman gloated and the veteran groaned as he placed a hand on his face.

I giggled at the two's antics, watching them talk for the first time in forever.

"Truthfully, I am surprised you're even here. I would've thought the dust formula would've kept you bed ridden or worse," Ozpin remarked as we walked down and empty hall. "Knowing how stubborn you are, you probably would've never looked for a cure after the first time."

"Didn't, this little one did," my mentor laughed as he patted his hand on my shoulder.

I blushed under my hood and Ozpin smiled.

"She does have a tendency to do the impossible. Slaying a Nevermore on her trial run, aiding in stopping a large robbery, and disappearing only to return with my ex-teammate. Quite the record," he said with smile making me blush.

"Th-thank you sir," I replied and the silver haired huntsman turned to Ben.

"Now Benedict, I would like to make you an offer."

"An offer?"

"Yes, if you accept, your huntsman status will be revived and you will be teaching here at Beacon alongside Peter, Glynda, Oobleck, and many others."

We stared in disbelief at him, Mr. Smith, the veteran hunter wasn't going to be veteran anymore?

"You're serious? Me, a huntsman again?"

"If you accept, yes indeed," Ozpin stated with a smile, placing both hands on top of his cane which he set out in front of him.

"Well, I don't know," he faltered and I nudged him with my shoulder.

"Come on Mr. Smith, you could go out and hunt Grimm again, be a real hero! Show the world you've changed!"

"I still got to train you Ruby, how am I suppose to do that in between missions and teaching kids."

"Aeren could train me, I could stay at Metastract Manor while you're here," I suggested to him, but he shook his head at me.

"Ozpin, your input?" he asked and the headmaster shrugged.

"It is truly your decision and seeing at how attached and protective you have become of Ms. Rose, I would suggest following your instinct you usually do."

"My instincts are all over the place at the moment," he confessed and I grabbed his hand.

"Come on Ben, I'll be fine. Besides, with Torchwick in the dungeon and the White Fang still loose, Beacon could use your expertise."

He stared at me for a while, steel grey eyes burrowing into me before he moved his gaze to Ozpin.

"Very well, I accept," he finally said and I cheered as the headmaster smiled.

"It is good to have you back my old friend, now might I ask, how did you receive your wounds."

"Oh, you remember Deadlock?" Benedict asked and I saw Ozpin's emerald eyes widen.

"Then my worst fears are confirmed," he spoke as he turned to look at the massive complex that was Beacon's main building. "Several weeks ago I sent Mr. Arc along with Teams RWBY and JNPR out to find a thief who had stolen a piece of the artifact. I entrusted Deadlock with the job to find this thief. He seems to have played me."

"He has an artifact piece?" my mentor gasped and Ozpin shook his head, placing a hand on his silver locks.

"No, he has two, perhaps more! I sent out a message to Team OPAL to go into hiding, they did and since then there has been no contact. After Odys' death I sent out an emergency broadcast that went unanswered, I fear Deadlock is two steps ahead of us already," he confessed and Ben's mouth dropped.

"They're dead?" he gasped as he stared at the headmaster. "They're gone? All of them? The last remnants of Naomi!"

"Yes," Ozpin whispered, the word barely audible to most people, but to us it was deafening.

"Naomi? She was your guys' teammate right?" I asked and they both nodded.

"Naomi discovered a way to create souls Ruby," Mr. Smith spoke as he turned to me. "She fused special programs with her very aura and in turn created Cyber Souls as she called them. With these souls she created robotic bodies, massive warriors the size of airships and placed them within these chassis."

"She made life," I gasped and he nodded.

"Over time, after her death, Team OPAL, comprised of Odys, Persoa, Achillek, and Lennok traveled as a team of special hunters, an elite strike team if you will," Ozpin continued as he waved a hand around.

"Naomi created many things in her life, weapons, tech, new life, and there were even rumors she created a robot that could grow, but the most important thing she ever did was take the artifact with her to her grave," Benedict finished and I stared at them.

"Okay, what is this artifact you guys keep talking about!" I shouted and they looked at each other again before face-palming.

"Yes, it would have been simpler if we began with the artifact," Ozpin spoke and sighed in annoyance before looking up at me. "The artifact is known as the Black Chalice, a dark piece of history rumored to have been made in the early age of man. Its true power is unknown, not a single one of us know what it can do, but as far as we can tell it was probably used for ritualistic events, perhaps the drinking of blood."

"Ugh," I gagged and Mr. Smith continued.

"After Naomi's death, everything she owned was given to us since she had no real family, she was an orphan. However, her pieces of the artifact were implanted within each form of life she created, in every member of Team OPAL save for one piece which has not been found as of yet."

"We have searched for it in what time we had for free," Ozpin stated with a certain solemnness in his voice, "but our efforts were futile, she hid the last piece well."

"So wait, do you guys have pieces?" I asked and they both nodded.

"Ben here has two while I have one," Ozpin explained and my mentor nodded in agreement.

"So that Deadlock guy, who is he?"

"He was once one of us," Mr. Smith began, his voice once full of cheer and joy now back to when I first met him, all low and humble with solemnness in it. "He himself is a creation of Naomi, her first soul. He swore loyalty to her, but as time passed and the Great War neared, his loyalty wavered.

"He often reviewed the Faunas-Human War many years prior in which many of our forefathers fought in, including Mr. Arc's," Ozpin continued as he stared at the sky, remembering everything. "His sympathies for both human and faunas slowly eroded as he saw how violent and dark both sides were until eventually he went rogue. However, he remained at Beacon until the Great War in which he was said to have perished in a bombing incident."

"Yeah, I remember him saying, 'You watched me burn. You did not watch me perish'," I recited and they both looked at each other for like the hundredth time.

"This just keeps getting better and better," Benedict groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"It would seem somewhere after the war, he met Torchwick, a drop out of Beacon, and together they have forged an alliance with an unknown power," Ozpin stated bluntly, not beating around the bush or anything. "I fear that soon this incredible time of peace shall be cast aside for a dark time of chaos."

"The balance must be kept," Mr. Smith spoke as he looked over at the silver haired man. "You always believed that like it was something God said himself before you. I guess you're right about that."

He nodded and they both looked at me now.

"With our observations over, we must now decide on your fate Ms. Rose," Ozpin spoke and I was taken back.

"What?" I asked and they looked at Beacon.

"Beacon is a school for young huntsman and huntresses in training to become full fledged hunters. You were one of our academy's best students and it would be a shame if you never return," he said and I shook my head.

"I am coming back sir, just not now."

He eyed me for a moment, looking at the determination on my face before looking down and smiling.

"Very well, I will hold you to that. Now Ben, I believe it is time we decide on what subject you will teach to the students in the second semester."

* * *

Jaune POV  


"It was right here!" I shouted at Yang as she tapped her foot on the ground impatiently.

I was trying to tell her I met Ruby, but she doesn't believe me. So now I was showing her the hall full of rose petals, but now I guess they got blown away or cleaned up.

"Jaune, I swear to God..." she grumbled, but I ignored her and kept looking around.

"I'm serious Yang! I saw her!" I said and she grabbed me by the collar of my hoodie.

"Listen Vomit Boy, you probably were seeing things. It's what happens to people like us after we lose someone."

"But-"

"But nothing except your over excited mind Lady Killer, I'll see you around," she said, her voice full of depression as she walked off.

"But I really saw her," I sighed in defeat and turned to walk, but ran into my sister.

"Whoa Jaune, watch where you're going," Artie said and pushed me back, holding onto my shoulders so I wouldn't fall over. "You look sad, you lose Crocea Mors again?"

I turned red, remembering when I forgot where I put Crocea Mors when she was going to take me to the airships to Beacon.

"No, you forget you had no dress?" I countered and she turned red.

Last night we were celebrating and she deactivated her armor, but completely forgot she shredded her dress when she turned it on. I didn't have to say anything for people to know she squealed and most of the school was goggling at her before she put her armor back on.

"Hey, not my fault I forgot," she said, jabbing a finger into my chest plate.

I laughed and walked past her, both of us hanging out like we used to.

"So does mom and dad know you're here?" Artie asked and I shook my head.

"Still think I'm at Vermill Academy for artists," I chuckled and she smiled.

"Remember what we say when we get back to Arc Castle," she laughed and nudged me with her elbow.

"Sorry I couldn't call you, they took my scroll and don't want people to interrupt or distract me from my work," I recited and she smiled.

"You're lucky I got friends who could get me those transcripts," she laughed and I nodded. "So... how was that kiss?"

"Kiss?" I asked and then I remembered last night. "Oh, that one."

"Yeah, that one," she said and smirked as her elbow prodded my ribs. "So, how was it?"

"Well... um, it was kinda wrong since I'm dating Pyrrha."

"And?" she asked, probably wanting more juicy details like she always wanted.

"And she tasted like roses," I said, blushing even more, but instead of squealing in joy she gasped in shock. "Artie? You okay?"

"Yeah, fine, totally fine," she said, putting on a fake smile, but I could tell she was lying because her nose was twitching.

"Artie your nose is twitching," I said with a blank expression, narrowing my eyes at her.

"What, no it's not," she tried to laugh it off, pinching her nose to keep it in place.

"Artie," I growled and she sighed as she looked down.

"Okay, this is a big secret, like super secret as in as secret as the time you caught me doing naughty things," she said and I felt a horrified expression scrawl onto my face at that memory.

"Never bring that up again, please," I said and she nodded with a determined look.

"Ruby's alive," she said and I jumped back from her.

"She's-"

"Shut up!" she shouted at me before I could finish. "She doesn't want anyone here to know because they tried to kill her, even your GF, Pyrrha."

"Pyrrha tried to... that's why she gets all weird when I talk about Ruby," I realized and my sister nodded.

"Now, tell no one, not even Ozpin can know," she stated and looked around. "Also, she has a crush on you, I think."

My eyes widened as Artie's smirk did and I passed out.

* * *

Third Person POV

"Keep weapons checked," Benedict Smiethrun stated at his student/buddy aka Ruby Rose as she stood behind the airship that would take her back to Magnus. "Check up on Aeren, keep learning academically and physically, help Penny along with you, don't let up, protect Magnus, and do me proud kid."

Ruby nodded, putting a hand up to her forehead in a salute, Penny doing the same thing.

"Aye sir!" she chirped and Penny nodded.

"We're combat ready!" Penny stated with her friend.

"Alright kids, be on your way back to Magnus. Oh, and tell Ranulf that he owes me fifty Lien for getting reinstated!" he shouted at them as they boarded.

"By Mr. Smith!" Ruby shouted before the door closed.

Both the ex-veteran and headmaster watched the airship leave as more airships came in, bringing healed students and concerned parents.

"Does she know what happened to her father?" Ozpin asked and Benedict shook his head.

"No"

"Will she?"

"No, she can never know what happened to her parents, never."

"You're afraid, aren't you?"

The man with eyes as grey as steel nodded, his eyes filled with a cold and calculating look.

"Yes, yes I am old friend."

Meanwhile, in a more crime infested part of Vale, a massive fireball melted a metal wall.

"That imbecile!" Cinder screeched in fury as she burned and destroyed to release her rage.

"I told you we should have used remote control on the prototype," Deadlock stated with a growl. "It was quite a feat to steal the prototype Elysium Paladin from that military academy."

"And it will be another feat for you to capture the fully functional version."

"That matters little in our predicament," Alpha stated, arms crossed as he held an expression of pure rage. "What matters is that the idiot, Torchwick does not squeal like a Boarbatusk caught on its back."

"We will be able to recover him," Deadlock stated, transforming his robotic arm into a hook. "I will make sure of it."

* * *

**Done**

**So there you have it**

**More mysteries to be solved**

**Ben's at Beacon, ready to teach everybody**

**Ruby's back at Magnus, waiting for him to come back for Christmas before he goes for the second semester to teach**

**Deadlock and the White Fang are getting ready to take back Roman**

**Jaune now knows Ruby's alive plus Pyrrha's probably getting dumped for reasons 'unknown'**

**Finally, what do Benedict and Ozpin know about Ruby's parents?**

**Going to have to figure out how to write all of that out for you guys**

**So I hope you liked this chapter**

**Review, Favorite, and Follow**

**Thanks for reading,  
Lord Revan Flame**


	14. In Defense of Beacon

**Hello viewers**

**Welcome back!**

**So I saw that you guys have been loving the story so far**

**I love it to**

**Now let's start here with Deadlock's attack on Beacon Academy**

**See ya inside**

* * *

Third Person POV

"Sir, we are nearing the hunter academy," a robotic mech spoke as it saluted to its master, Deadlock.

"Good, prepare all weapons and ground forces, we only need Roman, nothing else," the robotic bounty hunter replied, waving a hand without care.

The robotic servant/soldier walked out of the bridge, leaving the ex-huntsman to contemplate on his return to Beacon. A smile came across his metal lips as his poisonous green optics spun slowly, the mechanical form of narrowing eyes. He spied the many airships carrying parents and students to the academy.

"Prepare for extermination," he murmured as the pilot's seat met his body.

* * *

Jaune POV

"Whoa!" I shouted as Artie shoved me into a pretty big suit case.

"Hi mom, hey dad," she said as she zipped it up.

"Arthelle, it's so good to see you!" I heard mom squeal in joy as I hid from our parents. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"Mom, mom! I'm fine," I listened in on and sighed silently when I heard them moving away.

I pushed the suitcase's lid, but forgot it was zipped up.

"Uh, anyone?" I asked as I stood there, in a suitcase.

I waited for a couple minutes, calling out until I heard a zipping sound. The suitcase opened to show Ren and Nora with their parents.

"Jaune?" Ren asked and I sheepishly waved, "What are you doing in a suitcase?"

"Hiding," I answered and he sighed, putting a hand on his face while Nora kept on smiling her normal, huge smile, "so they're your guys' parents?"

"Why yes Mr. Arc," an older looking Ren said as he held out a hand, "Ren has mentioned you in his letters and messages."

"Really?" I asked and my teammate/buddy nodded.

"So has our little Nora!" an older woman with longer hair than Nora squealed as she grabbed her daughter in a bear hug.

"Mom," Nora whined and the older woman let go.

"So I guess it's parent's day," I joked and they shrugged.

"Where's your ma and pa?" Nora asked, putting on an accent to go with her question.

"Well, they don't really know I'm here," I confessed and all six heads tilted. "I, uh... it's a long story."

"Ooookaaaaaay," Nora said, eyeing me suspiciously.

"Mr. Arc," I heard and cringed, thinking a teacher had found me and was going to take me to my parents, instead I came face to face with Beacon's recent savior. "I was under the impression you would be with your parents and sister."

"Well, uh Mr. Smith, I was just talking to my teammates and their parents," I nervously answered and he raised and eyebrow before shrugging.

"Reasonable," the reinstated huntsman said and looked around at the crowds of people on the academy grounds. "Well, have a good day young ones."

The coffee brown haired man began walking towards Ozpin who was speaking to a white haired woman who had Weiss and a girl who looked like an older Weiss standing next to her.

I crept over a bit and listened in on them.

"How can you let this happen! I thought this school was meant to train students not get them killed!" I heard Weiss' mom scream at the headmaster who kept his usual calm looking face.

"Mrs. Schnee-"

"No! I will not be treated like the rest of these people, my husband paid for the best training, not for my daughter's death!"

"Mother, I could've handled it myself," Weiss cut in, but the older Weiss laughed.

"Yeah right," she chuckled and Ice Queen growled at her.

"Shut it Wynter," she snarled and I just kept staring until a hand grabbed my shoulder.

"Jaune!" I heard Pyrrha cry out I joy and turned me around to face her and her own parents.

"Uh, hi," I greeted, nervously raising a hand.

After Artie told me about what happened to Ruby, I've tried to break up with Pyrrha, but being the paranoid geek I was... well you know. The conversation usually ended with me chickening out and running off to somewhere hidden. I didn't let my new despising of her stay inside though, I used my clumsy act to accidentally spill coffee on her, ruin her homework with some spilled coffee, and one time I even accidentally blew up her javelin, I think it was Milo or Akouo, I can never remember.

Anyways, I always apologized and like the jealous and love sick puppy I found her out to be she accepted it. Dang, I sound really devious, like one of those super villains from X-Ray and Vav!

"So you must be this Jaune Arc we keep hearing about," her dad spoke as he grabbed my hand and shook it. I snapped back into reality and managed to keep my sheepish smile on, mostly because I was pretty scared of her parents. "You seem like a nice young man."

"Th-thank you," I said, keeping my smile up.

"And he's polite too, just like you said!" Pyrrha's mom said as she pinched my cheek.

"Mother, you're embarrassing me," my girlfriend whined silently, making it a murmur.

"Sorry dear," she apologized as I shrunk under her dad's stare.

Suddenly, before anyone could say another word, an airship exploded.

* * *

Benedict POV

"But Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeennnnnnnnnnnn," I heard Ruby whine, stretching out my name into a word that lasted at least two minutes.

"No Ruby, you can't use my workshop while I'm gone. I know you are a very good inventor, but I cannot trust you as an adult with tools to dangerous for children your age."

"I'm not a child," I heard her huff over the call.

She had her arms crossed and cheeks puffed out as she gave me an angry look through the Scroll call.

"No means no Ruby," I groaned and she groaned back as she slammed her head on the desk she was using. "You know, I believe your father is here to speak with your sister. Do you want me to talk to him for you?"

"No, I can't let dad no. No matter how much I want him too, he'd just force me back to Beacon," she sadly sighed, looking down.

I gave her a sympathetic look and tapped on the screen.

"Hey, how about when I get back for the break before the second semester, I can help you augment Crescent Rose?"

She smiled widely and started rapidly spouting words while I tried to make sense of them.

"So how's life as a teacher?" she asked and I shrugged.

"I have not yet learned or taught," I answered and she giggled at my answer. "Now how is the manor?"

"Well Aeren's been taking care of it like she always does. You got tons of mail, I've been hanging out with Valance and Penny, and Ranulf said that he already paid you those Lien."

"Oh, he did?" I asked and checked my wallet.

She giggled again, but this time she was cut short as a loud explosion resounded throughout the academy.

"Mr. Smith, what was that?" she asked as I got up, looking at the door to my classroom.

"Something bad," I answered and prepared to turn off the call, "I need to go Ruby, I will see you when I get back."

"But si-"

I didn't let her finish as I closed the Scroll and hooked it onto my belt. Grabbing Dust Knight that was set next to my desk, I rushed out the door.

* * *

Third Person POV

The reinstated huntsman left his classroom behind him as he ran towards the courtyard. There, at the docks he found several airships in ruins, reduced to piles of melted scrap metal and burning fire pits. Students were getting any parents who weren't capable of fighting inside the main building while most others gathered their weapons.

Out of the cloud of smoke generated by the burning husks of the transports came a small ship, a very familiar ship.

"Deadlock," Benedict murmured as he slowed his speed till he was walking forward, Dust Knight pointed forward.

As if on cue, the robotic bounty hunter walked out of the smoke, arms swaying back in forth, hands clenched into fists, and visor set over his face. The mechanical being pulled its arms back, making the cannon on his chest appear as it built itself.

Learning from the incident before, Benedict jumped out of the way as a shell sailed past him and demolished a wall. The students and several parents opened fire, shooting at him, but the blasts barely did any damage to its near impenetrable, metal skin.

He fired again, blowing away a group of students only to be attacked head on by a flaming blonde. Yang's gauntlets, Ember Celica managed to blow of small chunks of his armored hide, but he quickly grabbed her and threw her onto the ground. Raising a foot, the bounty hunter prepared to crush her, but was stopped by a girl with a rather large hammer.

Nora laughed as she smashed Magnhild into his leg and crumpled the metal armor on it. He roared in anger and pain as he felt it biting into the inner workings of his mechanical limb, but was cut short as Weiss froze it and Ren shot it up. He fired several more times.

The students jumped out of the way and several more took their place. Cardin swung his mace down on the mechanized titan's arm, about crumpling a bit of armor, but it did little to deter the ex-huntsman. Deadlock roared and slapped away the student before transforming his cannon into twin hooks on his arms.

He swung an arm, making the hook shoot off and swing by, sending a group of Beacon guards into a wall, crushing their bodies. He pulled it back and slammed the pointed end down on Yang. She jumped out of the way and a black ribbon wrapped around his neck. While he could not be choked out of air, his robotic neck was still vulnerable to being crushed.

Blake held him back as best she could as her team and every other team fought. Arthelle swung her longsword at him, slicing off an armored plate off his leg, but he slammed a fist down at her. She barely dodged, landing on her back from the force of the hit.

Before anyone could do anything else, a barrage of bullets flew by and cut down several Beacon guards. A small army of robot soldiers moved into the academy grounds, carrying large rifles as they opened fire. Beacon was at war as students and parents alike fought the mechanical warriors.

"Deadlock!" Benedict shouted as he smashed a robot into the ground. "Come here!"

The bounty hunter scowled from under his visor and started running at him, hooks gleaming in the light as he charged. Anything in his path was either trampled or bashed aside by the robotic ex-huntsman. He swung a hook, but the reinstated huntsman jumped back before swinging his morning star.

It crushed the hook into the ground, rendering it useless, but that did not stop Deadlock from using his other hook. He pierced Benedict's coat, specifically the back of it and swung him around, throwing him into the cafeteria. Slowly getting up, he transformed Dust Knight into its cannon form and let loose a barrage of dust shots.

The blasts singed and about melted the bot's armor, but he quickly threw a table at him. He dodged and rolled, preparing to fire his cannon once more, but had failed to notice the bounty hunter bringing out his cannon again. Firing another shell, he struck the ground in front of the huntsman and sent him flying into a set of tables. Before he could attack again, the mechanical being fired one last time, obliterating Dust Knight.

The resulting explosion blew a fairly sized crater in the ground while Ben himself had pushed his aura into a force field like shield in front of himself at the last second, keeping the fiery explosion away from him. Deadlock attempted to fire on him again, but a sword pierced his shoulder and Deadlock released a cry of pain as Jaune swung around on his back.

"Whoa! Whoa!" he yelled in fear as he hung onto the sword hilt like it was a twig sticking out of a cliff.

"AH!" Deadlock roared in fury as he tried to reach the hunter in training on his back.

"Hey!" Nora shouted and smashed Magnhild into his leg, effectively breaking it.

The robot let out another cry of pain and fell onto his other, mostly fine leg as he shot his cannon at the ginger girl.

The explosive shell was blocked by a very enraged mother with a really, really big shield.

"Don't you hurt my baby!" Nora's mother screamed and slammed the shield into the bounty hunter's helmet.

The visor cracked and he growled as his poisonous green optics zoomed in on the sudden appearance of the hunters in training's parents. The metal plates underneath the synthesized, burnt skin of his face shifted as his face contorted in anger.

"Die!" he roared and transformed his right arm into a large rifle like gun. He fired a shot and blew open a wall, then shot again and demolished a pillar.

The group of fighters dodged his shots, earning scratches from rolls and pieces of shrapnel raining down on them. A pair of katanas wielded by both of Ren's parents came down and sliced off one of his arms, making him roar in pain. His shoulder violently lurched forward, before being ripped off by Pyrrha and her parents working in tangent.

In seconds he was reduced to a torso with broken legs that were torn apart along with missing arms. The lights under his visor faded and finally he went offline.

"We did it?" Nora asked and Ren nodded.

"He's dead- er, offline, whatever," Arthelle stated with a smile. "We won!"

They all cheered, but were stopped when his visor slid up to show a TV screen with Deadlock's face showing on it.

"Hello children, apologies for not being there in person, but I decided it best if I sent a drone down instead," he laughed maniacally. "Roman is now back with us and your little academy is in ruins, goodbye fleshlings."

The chest opened up to show a timer and all their eyes widened in horror.

"Bomb!" Benedict shouted as he grabbed the Arc twins and pulled them down, Jaune putting his shield over them to protect them.

There was a plume of fire and a shockwave, but it was stopped in an instant and they all looked to see Glynda using the rubble to shield the blast in a ball like container.

"Good job Ms. Goodwitch," Yang remarked and the teacher shot her a glare, obviously not liked being called out by her.

"They escaped!" Prof. Port shouted as he ran into the cafeteria.

The group of students and parents immediately ran outside in time to see the bounty hunter himself in his bullhead like ship with Roman boarding it, accompanied by an escort of mechanical drones.

"Bye bye," Roman laughed loudly as the gunship took off for Deadlock's ship, escaping from Beacon Academy.

"No!" Benedict roared as he watched the ship fly off, his face contorted in a mix of rage, anger, fury, and hate.

"Jaune?"

The blonde teen turned and saw his parents staring at him in shock.

"Uh, hi?" he sheepishly laughed in response, waving.

* * *

Several Hours Later

"Unbelievable!" the Arc sibling's mother screamed at them as she paced around them in circles. "_You_ lied to us about going to a nonexistent school and _you_ help him get into this school."

Jaune cringed at being called out and Arthelle did the same when she was. It had only been several hours since the battle and since then their parents had constantly berated them and squeezed them for the truth.

"When you come home, you are grounded young man! No TV, no video games, no music, no nothing!" Jaune's mother yelled, then moved to Arthelle. "You aren't getting anything from us anymore for this, your brother could have gotten killed or worse because of what you've done!"

They looked down in shame, but looked up in surprise when the headmaster's hands set themselves on their shoulders.

"Now Mrs. Arc, I believe you are overreacting and making assumptions," he said with a smile while all four members of the Arc family looked at him in shock and surprise.

"What?" the parents asked and he fixed his glasses.

"You see, I did know that Mr. Arc's transcripts were fake," he responded making the parents tilt their heads in confusion.

"So why did you let me into Beacon?" Jaune asked and the silver haired man smiled as he looked out the massive clock face that was his window.

"Because of who you are Mr. Arc. Seeing as you were an Arc, I was curious of how skilled you were. Looking up your personal record, I discovered numerous accounts of bullying and harassment, but whenever you were cornered by said bullies, you did not let them break you. Your will is strong as is your faith and loyalty as seen in the recent events. Also your strategic mind used during your trial through the Emerald Forest and the recent battles as already mentioned. Anything else I missed?"

The elder Arcs stared in shock at the headmaster, gaping after hearing all the positive comments about their son, the little, picked on kid who spent his time gardening with his mother, reading comic books, and playing video games or watching TV. The eldest Arc sibling was smiling widely as she gripped the back of her chair as she looked at Ozpin, happy her brother was going to be a great huntsman like her, maybe even better. Finally, there was Jaune who himself had a hand pressed against his face as he stared in shock at the headmaster.

"So, he's actually doing good here?" Jaune's father asked and Ozpin nodded.

"While he lacks in almost every single one of his classes, those grades are steadily rising to a more acceptable degree. In recent events however, the steady rise is now in maximum overdrive," the headmaster spoke and Jaune slowly nodded, remembering how he converted the pain for Ruby's death into determination to make her proud.

"Wait, what happened?" their mother asked and he looked down in sadness while his sister explained.

"A couple months ago a friend of his here at Beacon died," she responded and they gave their son a sympathetic look.

"Ozpin!"

Everyone turned to see Benedict standing there, having rushed through the doors like a speeding Boarbatusk.

"The ceremony's starting soon, thought I might warn you."

"Thank you old friend, now let us wrap this up," the silver haired man stated and looked at the Arc parents. "It is up to you whether you decided to pull your son out of my prestigious academy or if you wish for him to stay and train."

They were uncertain, completely astonished at what their son was actually capable of. They had never thought he'd be any good at combat school so they didn't send him to any, but he had snuck into Beacon and had become a pretty good student.

"Jaune, you promise to contact us about how your doing?" his mother asked and he nodded hastily. "And you promise not to lie to us again?" Both of the Arc siblings nodded and she sighed. "Okay, you can stay."

Wide grins spread across their faces and both siblings high fived in front of the adults.

"A wise choice indeed, now if you excuse me. It is time to honor our fallen," Ozpin stated as he moved to leave his office.

* * *

Benedict POV

"Today, we honor our fallen, those brothers and sisters in arms who we cherished as if we were related by blood," Ozpin spoke to the crowd of on lookers.

I stood behind him with the rest of the Beacon staff or at least what remained of us. Glynda and Peter were next to me, Bartholomew was also with us and several more staff members were there. People from all over had come to pay their regards to the mourners and to honor the dead.

"From this act of terrorism, we now know that this incredible time of peace is coming to a close. However, its end can be held off for a time. Let us live our lives away from chaos and discord, let us honor our fallen by remembering them and continuing on as they would wish us too!" Ozpin loudly stated and everyone murmured, nodding while others cried and raised their hands up in respect for the dead. "Today, we have lost many, but they paid the ultimate price to receive the ultimate gift, knowing their loved ones are safe and protected."

People cried out and the crowd slowly dispersed as the spread out amongst the graves. We all stood in a mass grave, one placed here during the founding of Beacon for its fallen children. It sat near the academy itself, sacred ground for all of us. Many had been buried here, most famed hunters who had graduated from Beacon while others who had wished to be buried with their families who had been here.

I did not cry, I did not mourn. I knew little of these people, but there was one I knew oh so much. I walked the path through the forest, passing the familiar trees before coming to the grave. My teeth grit, I lost control of my legs as I fell forward. I felt my hands press against my face as I buried my head into them. I cried then, I didn't care. This is what I taught Ruby, let it all out when most appropriate as to save yourself from an emotional breakdown in dire times.

It felt like hours before I recomposed myself and walked away, returning to Beacon to catch and airship back to Magnus. One last visit to the manor, one last meeting with my-

"R-R-R-R-R-R-R-Ruby Rose! Ruby Rose!"

I looked around, face red and eyebrow raised before looking down at my Scroll which was blinking signaling a call. I grabbed it and opened it, the face of my student appearing before me.

"Ben!" she screamed and I grit my teeth to stop the pain that spread from the ringing in my ears.

"Ruby, what is it?" I asked, slightly annoyed.

"Oh, sorry, I was just wondering if you were okaaaay after that attack on Beacon!" she screamed at me and I moved my head back a bit to try to get away from her voice.

"I'm fine Ruby, just slightly angered at the destruction of my weapon."

"Wait, Dust Knight's gone?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. I looked at her closely, noticing a twitch here or there. Then I noticed her background.

"Ruby, is that my workshop?" I asked, noticing the board behind her with all my tools on it.

"Uuuuuuuuuuh," she elongated before the call cut.

"Great," I murmured as I started walking back to Beacon again.

* * *

Ruby POV

"Hm," I said as I sat on the table in Mr. Smith's workshop, "what should I make."

"Shouldn't we _not_ be in here?" Valance asked me as stood in the hall, to afraid to follow me in.

"Come on Val, I know what I'm doing," I said and as I grabbed a wrench.

"Alright, so Ruby."

"What?" I asked as I looked over at her.

She had this really big smile on her face, a really evil looking smile.

"I was watching the Achieve Hunters a couple days ago, they had this concert at Beacon and I saw a girl called Sapphire Petunia on stage," she said and I realized where this was going. "I dunno if anyone else saw the red cloak underneath your coat, but I sure did."

"You're wondering about the kiss, aren't you?"

"You guys looked so cute!" she squealed and I blushed heavily, again.

"Yeah, well we can't... you know, date cause I'm here and Jaune's at Beacon."

"So you actually like him," she slyly said and I turned even redder, almost matching my cloak.

"N-no, we're just friends. I mean we can't date like he probably doesn't like me like I like him- I mean!"

My ginger friend turned into a energetic ball of orange that giggled while my other ginger friend, Penny was still looking at the tools in the workshop.

"Ruby? Do you like Jaune?" Penny asked and now I was just like my cloak.

"Well, I- uh..." I trailed off and I started thinking of Jaune.

That blonde head of his, those clumsy legs of his, his pearl armor pads, Crocea Mors- Wait!

"Crocea Mors!" I blurted out and both of them stopped to look at me.

"What?" Valance asked as I started grabbing stuff.

"I know what I'm making!" I stated as I grabbed both of my friends. "Valance, let's go ask your dad if we can use the forge!"

* * *

**Done**

**So I hope you liked this chapter**

**I'm probably going to skip a couple days later when Benedict gets to Magnus and its snowing and its Christmas**

**So you people want more RoseArc, I promise a lot of that in the next chapter**

**Totes fluff**

**All the totes fluff**

**So see you then**

**Review, Favorite, and Follow**

**Sincerely,  
Lord Revan Flame**


	15. A very RoseArc Christmas

**Hello viewers**

**Welcome back!**

**So I'm guessing a lot of you want to see RoseArc**

**Well here it is!**

**To the holiday of gift opening and praying to God to thank him for Jesus!**

**I'm Christian okay**

**So, anyways**

**RoseArc!**

**Away!**

* * *

Jaune POV

"Artie! Where are we going?" I asked as she dragged me onto the airship.

"Why to Magnus my dear little brother, to celebrate Christmas with me and the team," she said, booping my nose like Nora would.

It was snowing today, like it usually would on Christmas Eve. A lot of the students were being shipped back out to their families for the holidays, ours wanted us to spend time together out where Artie was working at as a huntress. We were suppose to meet them there, but Artie was taking her time picking whatever she was picking.

"We ready boys?" she called out and her team signed off in response.

"Ready boss!"

"You dust dang right!"

"Yes indeed."

"Uh, yeah," I said and she grabbed the collar of my chest plate, dragging me while I dragged her luggage with everyone else carrying more luggage.

"To Magnus my friends and dear little brother!" she laughed as the door to the airship closed.

* * *

Ruby POV

"Get ready! Get ready!" I shouted as we all got around the door to Mr. Smith's room.

"Are you sure he isn't going to have a heart attack?" Valance asked as she crouched behind me.

"Pft, he'll be fine," I said and just as I said that, the door opened.

"Merry Christmas!" we all shouted and he stumbled back, tripping over a suitcase before falling on his back.

"Holy Beowolf," he gasped as I cracked a smile while giggling.

"Sup my mentor?" I asked as he got up, rubbing his back to get rid of the pain. "Sorry about he scare."

"Yeah, thanks for that. So Christmas, huh?" he questioned and I smiled even wider.

"Time to open presents!" Valance and I squealed and ran down the hall, well she ran, I shot down like a bullet with roses trailing behind me.

By the time I had all presents arranged in piles for everyone, they arrived.

"Present time!" Valance cheered in a low voice as she jumped over to her small stack of presents.

* * *

Third Person POV

It was a slow ride to Magnus as the Arc siblings along with Team HRA sat and rested. Herold, Ryuu, and Aiden had fallen asleep while Arthelle herself had gone to the bathroom. This left Jaune to sit by himself, checking the internet with his Scroll.

Suddenly, his Scroll began ringing as he got an incoming call from Ren.

"Hey, Ren's calling," he said and answered, the face of his friend and teammate appearing. "Hey Ren."

"Hello Jaune."

"So why'd you call?"

"I was wondering, since you're dating Pyrrha... well how do you deal with woman?"

"Woman?" he asked, blushing rose red which made the other boy on the other end feel very uncomfortable. "Well, I don't really know a lot, but why do you ask?"

"Well my family is spending the holidays with Nora's and it's Christmas and you should be able to put the pieces together," he explained and it clicked in Jaune's head.

"Oh, so you want to know how to keep her calm?"

"Yes," he said, but the answer wasn't enough for the leader, he saw opportunity with this and with a sly smirk resembling Ruby's, he continued.

"Are you sure that's all?"

Ren raised an eyebrow, but it quickly dawned on him, making him put on a shocked face.

"Wha- No! Jaune! What could you possible be implying?"

"Oh nothing, just wondering if you were in _love_ with Nora?" Jaune questioned and Ren turned even more red.

"Jaune! We are just friends, always will be, always shall be!" he stated, but Jaune heard him murmur something else.

"What was that?"

"What was what?"

"What you just said after everything you said."

"I didn't say-"

"Ren! I am pulling a Ruby here, I order you as team leader to tell me if you have a crush on Nora or not!"

"I-I... ugh, fine," he groaned and looked Jaune straight in the eye through the call. "I do have a crush on Nora."

"Zippidy Zappidy Do!" Jaune shouted, but was hit in the head with a wadded up blanket, curtsey of an annoyed, sleepy Aiden. "I mean, I knew it!"

"Yes, well I'm sure that she won't like me," he said, depressingly and Jaune took notice.

"Oh, now come on Ren, I got Pyrrha to like me," he forced a smile, trying hard not to scowl at the mentioned red head's name. "You could get Nora to fall head over heels for you!"

"Jaune, you don't understand... I think she, she," he stammered before taking a moment to compose himself, breathing in deeply and closing his eyes. "I think she friend zoned me."

"Huh!" Jaune gasped loudly, getting hit with a pillow this time, but he didn't care. His friend just told him he got friend zoned, Friend Zoned! "No way!"

"I am afraid so oh great leader," he stated and Jaune felt guilt for making his friend confess his real feelings.

"Well, uh... sorry for making you admit about that," he apologized and Ren shook his head, shrugging.

"No, it's fine. Feels nice to confess to someone other than my parents," he admitted and Jaune sighed in relief.

"Ren!" the blonde heard Nora's voice call off screen. "It's present time! Get yo butt in here brother! We got presents to open!"

"Coming Nora!" he shouted and looked back at Jaune. "I have to go Jaune, thanks for the talk."

Before the cut the line, however, Jaune spoke up.

"Wait, Ren!" he said and his friend looked back at him one last time. "Just act like yourself and maybe you guys'll be together together."

The raven haired boy smiled back at the blonde before closing his scroll. Meanwhile, near the back of the ship, Arthelle Arc was having her own conversation.

"Christmas is so awesome this year! When are you coming back!" Valance squealed at her human friend who smiled.

"We're a couple minutes away from Magnus, we'll be landing soon."

"Ooh, Ruby'll be soooooo happy to see you!" she squealed and the elder Arc sibling smiled even wider.

"Yeah, well I got her a surprise!"

"What kind of surprise?"

"Well she kissed him," Arthelle stated and the faunas girl's eyes widened.

"You're bringing him here?"

"He already knows she's alive, time for them to make up and probably make out," she replied and they started planning for the reunion of what they decided to call, RoseArc.

* * *

Ruby POV

"And here's my present!" I shouted as I handed Benedict a large box wrapped up in red and black wrapping paper.

"Decent weight," he said, weighing it in his hand.

He started ripping it, unwrapping the present to reveal a cardboard box. He then opened that to find a special gift within my secondary covering.

"I thought I told you not to go into my forge?" he asked, holding up two gauntlets, one bigger than the other.

"Come on, try it out!" I eagerly yelled at him and he groaned as he slipped them on, putting the thinner one on his left arm and slipping on the larger one on his right.

"So what do I do?" he asked looking at them.

"Thrust your right arm forward," I instructed him and he did so.

The armor immediately shifted, forming a circular tube before armor plating appeared on it, the entirety of the gauntlet forming a cannon on his right arm. His eyes grew immediately and radically, totally bulging out of his head in surprise.

"Cool, huh?" I asked, slyly and he nodded slowly, observing his new weapon. "Now to deactivate it you just thrust your arm back."

He did it and the cannon transformed back into he armor plating of the gauntlet, roughly about half an inch thick of Hard Mythrium, the same fusion of metals I used for my sweetheart's new blade.

"I knew you were a genius in engineering, but this is insane," he gasped loudly and I smiled widely at the praise.

"But that's not all!" I stated and grabbed his hands. "Observe my dear mentor."

I curled his fingers so they were in the form of fists. He got the idea and clenched his hands, then I smashed both fists into each other. There was a loud clang and locking sound as the armor on his right gauntlet shifted and transferred over to his left gauntlet.

We all watched in awe as it did until it formed a sort of large metal plate on the left gauntlet with a handle sticking out of it, hovering over his hand.

"So what does this do?" he asked, pointing the handle at the Christmas tree.

"It's not a gun barrel if that's what you think," I snorted and moved his hand so it gripped the handle. "Now pull."

He did and the handle moved out, quickly revealing a hilt and then a blade that continually shifted parts so the blade built itself till the full sword was revealed. Right after the noise of the blade sliding out of the sheath, the metal plate transformed, the sides expanding to form a large shield, the end pointed down his arm.

He got up from his chair, staring at his new shield before moving his sword up to look at the crystalline markings I had put in along the blade's edges and also made some markings for it on the center of the blade. Instead of the purple dust crystals he used before which helped add a little extra force into every swing he sent, the dust crystals I used helped slice and dice much easier. They were colored a burning orange and gave this really cool look to the sword.

"Incredible," he gasped as he swung it around, testing it, "I prefer a good crushing, but hacking and slashing is just as good. I also see you've put those lessons in creating more resilient dust crystals into practice."

"But wait, there's even more!"

I led his left hand to a handle that had appeared from underneath the shield. He gripped it and placed a finger on the trigger. Pulling it, a loud sound of the hidden blaster underneath firing resounded as the bullet hit the wall. We all looked at the new scorched hole before staring at Aeren who looked down before walking out of the room to fetch some tools to repair said wall.

"Ruby Rose, you are a genius," my mentor said in awe as he reformed his present/new weapon into it compact gauntlet forms.

"Thanks dad," I replied and he suddenly tensed, his head quickly sinking down, eyes wide. I tilted my head in confusion staring at him while most of everyone did the same, but a couple other people looked at me. "Are you alright?"

His head snapped up and his eyes locked on me, making me squirm in my place as I sat on the ground.

"What did you say?" he asked and I thought back to what I had said before he tensed.

"Uh... thanks dad?"

That's when it clicked, I had slipped that one word in meant for my real dad. Then I remembered that Mr. Smith had a daughter once and now I really felt guilty.

"Oh, s-sorry! I didn't mean-"

"It's fine, it's fine," he replied hastily as he got up, holding his head with one hand. "I just need to-"

He didn't finish the sentence as he rushed out of the room, stumbling around a bit. We all stared at the door, waiting for something to happen even though we knew nothing would. After a couple minutes of staring and gaping, I got up and ran through the door, looking for my mentor.

"I screwed up so bad," I silently whined as my hands pushed open every door, my eyes scanned every room and hall before I came to the one door I knew he'd be behind.

I was right too, I found him in there, hunched over and silent sobs coming from him. I peeked my head through the door and saw him holding a picture frame, a picture of him with a woman his age, raven black hair cut short and amethyst eyes shining like the stones I compared them too. A little girl was with them, blonde hair cut short like the woman, but she also had amethyst eyes.

I remembered him talking about how his wife had a thing with another guy before they hooked up so that must be the daughter of her and the other guy. Benedict shifted, getting up and I noticed he glanced at me.

"I am sorry Ruby," he spoke in that same low and humble voice he used when we first met. "I did not wish for you to see me like this."

"No, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to call you dad, just me slipping my tongue," I nervously chuckled and he smiled.

"It is okay, I just... The memory of the little girl I helped raise is still burned into my mind," he explained and walked to stand in front of me, he, himself towering over my petite body.

"Yeah, well I just... I've spent most of first semester and probably all of second semester training here. All that time and you took care of me like I was your kid, so you just acted like my dad."

"I would take that as a compliment then," he smiled and kneeled down to my level.

We looked at each other, eye to eye and both of us smiled at each other. Then I thought of a question which immediately turned my cheeks red.

"So, uh... what do you think of me? Like, I think your my dad so what am I?"

"Ruby, you are my students, nothing less," he stated in that low, humble voice and I looked down, kinda disappointed, but also, weirdly relieved, "but you are everything more. I see you as the child I could never have raised."

I looked up, mouth slightly ajar as I looked up with hopeful and bright eyes. Two strong arms enveloped me in a hug and I found my face pressed against his lower torso. I smiled and snuggled my head into his black coat. We stood there, hugging like dad and daughter until the doorbell rang.

"Ugh, moment ruined," I groaned and he laughed.

"You check it, I have to clean this up," he said, picking up the picture frame.

I nodded and ran out of the room, sliding down the stair's railing before landing on the ground. I whistled while walking towards the front door.

"Hello-" I stopped as I stared at the blonde in front of me. "Jaune?"

* * *

Jaune POV

"Artie!" I whined loudly as I dragged her suitcases through the street of this town, Magnum- no, Magnus, yeah that's it.

"Jaune, we're here," she said as she opened the door to the hunter outpost for this town.

"Thank God," I sighed in relief as I lugged the suitcases inside while Herold, Aiden, and Ryuu followed.

A couple hours later I was sprawled on a couch, looking for the remote. Finally, I saw it on a pillow so I reached for it, but a foot came down and stepped on it.

"Nuh uh," Artie stated and grabbed me, pulling me up, "We got a Christmas party to attend, so look acceptable dear little bro."

"But Arti-"

She put a finger on my lips to keep my quiet, then leaned in.

"You are attending with me, Arc family unity for life," she said in a snooty voice before turning me around to face the door out of the outpost. "Now get moving."

"But what about you?" I asked and her eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh, I gotta... uh, I got to... go get our parents!" she chirped and I tilted my head in confusion.

"But they said it'd be an hour before they'd get here."

"So, it's not bad to be early!" she stated and I sighed as I followed the three other guys to a manor on a hill.

In about half an hour we were out of Magnus and walking up a road to the manor. Soon I was knocking on the door, nervously squirming while I waited. The door opened and a familiar voice greeted me, but stopped right before it finished. My eyes widened as I looked down at Ruby, her silver eyes also wide.

"Jaune?"

"Ruby?"

We stared at each other before there was a cough and both of us looked back at Aiden.

"Well, aren't you gonna let us in, Pipsqueak?"

"Oh, uh... come in?" she sheepishly replied and we all walked in.

All of us gaped at the foyer, staring at how cool the place looked.

"So, uh..." I trailed off as Ruby and I got in a staring contest again. "You live here?"

"F-for now," she answered and we kept staring until a tall man in a black coat appeared behind her.

I looked up and saw the familiar face of Mr. Smith from Beacon. He shook Ruby lightly and she snapped out of it to look behind her at him.

"Oh, Ben," she gasped in surprise and he smiled.

"Well, aren't you going to properly introduce us?" he asked, his usual light hearted voice now low and all humble like.

"Y-yeah, Ben this is Jaune Arc, you know that guy from Beacon. Jaune, this is Benedict, he's taking care of me," she introduced and before I knew it my hand was shaking his.

"It is good to see you Jaune, I did not expect you to be here," the newest teacher at the academy admitted to me and I nodded slowly, still in shock. "So I believe you to have a lot to catch up on?"

He turned to look at Ruby, but she was gone. I looked around and noticed rose petals leading out the open door we hadn't closed.

"Ruby," I gasped and ran out the door while I heard sighing from behind me.

* * *

Third Person POV

"Why did this have to happen?" Ruby whimpered as she sat in the tree.

Outside of Metastract Manor, there sat a large tree Ruby had grown accustomed to sitting in, using it as a place to think and rest when she wished too. Sometimes she even joked about putting a mattress up here and maybe a tree house. Right now, she wish she had a treehouse, somewhere private that she could cry in.

Everything had happened to fast for her. She had wanted to tell Jaune about her crush on him when she got back, not after they kissed.

Meanwhile, only a little while away, Jaune walked around, calling out his crush's name.

"Ruby!" he shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth to send his voice farther away. "Ruby!"

He felt so much guilt within himself, remembering everything that had happened since they met at the concert.

"Oh, what did I do?" he silently groaned as he looked around.

Nearby, Ruby had heard her name being called and saw Jaune walking towards the tree, most likely going to pass her underneath. She didn't know what to do, go down and apologize or stay up until he left Magnus. She kept replaying scenarios in her head, looking for a good ending. She couldn't find an answer and banged her head against the trunk of the tree.

That was a bad idea as the tree shook. She tried to hold onto the branch, but it cracked from all the pressure she had exerted on it from every time she had sat up there. The only thoughts going in Ruby's head were, "Fate totally hates me", "I'm going to die", and "Jaune better look up".

Speaking of the blonde 'Lady Killer' he was looking around to find the source of the cracking noise. His ears immediately caught whimpering and looked up as a voice rang out.

"Jaune!"

"Ruby!" he cried out, seeing her hanging onto a cracking branch. "Hold on I'll get help!"

"No time, it's going to break!" she shouted back down to him and he looked for a solution before staring down at his hands.

"Fall down, I'll catch you!" he replied and Ruby's face turned red.

"You'll what?"

"Fall and I'll catch yo-"

He didn't get to finish as the branch snapped and she started falling. Her limbs flailed as she descended down towards her best friend/crush. Said blonde was freaking out, his heart threatening to smash through his rib cage and shoot out of his chest.

"Ruby!" he screamed as she fell into his arms.

The force of the impact was strong enough to send him onto his back with her sitting on him, a surprised face on.

"Uh, thanks," she said as he groaned. "You alright?"

"No," he wheezed, feeling a couple strained ribs on the edge of cracking from the hit and also from a added weight of her butt on his chestplate.

He managed to lift her up, off of him so they took the appropriate position for their predicament, him holding her bridal style.

"My hero," she sighed in relief while he frowned.

"Ruby, please don't do that again," Jaune pleaded, teeth grit as he held back from yelling at her. "You almost gave me a heart attaaaaaaaaaaaaa-"

He stressed the 'a', elongating it as she pecked him on the cheek.

"Usually the hero says, 'You're welcome' you know?" she asked, but realized she had basically short circuited his brain as he had his mouth open and eyes wide while his entire face, mostly his cheeks were rose red. "Jaune? Hello?"

He kept staring into the distance, mouth hanging open and cheeks blazing red while Ruby sat in his arms. She slowly got down and when she was standing on her legs she started snapping her fingers in his face to no avail.

Finally, she decided to use her sweetheart for better results. The loud bang of the sniper rifle knocked him back into reality, making him stumble back and fall on his butt.

He groaned in slight pain before noticing the giggling girl next to him. He blushed again, rubbing the back of his head while getting up.

"So, I guess we're going to catch up?" he asked and she slowly nodded a forced nod.

It was an hour later after walking across some of the plots of land owned by Metastract Manor that Ruby and Jaune had finally caught up. Jaune was gritting his teeth and gripping the handle of Crocea Mors at his side by the time Ruby was done explaining the betrayal she faced in the nearby woods. Ruby was doing the same, but with Crescent Rose by the time Jaune explained Roxanne's arrival and Pyrrha dating him. After that, the tense atmosphere gave way for a more humorous one as the two friends walked back to the Manor, laughing and joking like the halcyon days of their time at Beacon.

"S-so I 'accidentally' tripped on my shoe laces and covered Pyrrha's back with coffee!" Jaune laughed and Ruby wildly giggled and snorted. "She was keeping her screams in while rubbing her back on the wall!"

"No way, that's awesome! But that doesn't beat my prank on Valance! I got her to think her tail was one fire with some Illusion Dust," Ruby explained and Jaune laughed.

"Nice," he replied, wiping a tear of joy from his eye. "Man it is cold out today."

"Well there is snow everywhere and it is going to snow and it's also Christmas, so I'm pretty sure it is cold."

He grumbled angrily at her remark while she giggled, but soon it died down.

"You know you can use our aura to keep you warm right?"

He raised an eyebrow and remembered what he had learned in the Emerald Forest during his trial run. He activate his aura, letting it flow so heat could travel throughout his form. He sighed in relief as he felt the cold leave, but just as soon as it left, it returned as a snowball made impact on his chestplate, cooling it and sending the dreaded feeling of freezing death into his chest while falling backwards into a pile of snow.

"Ah," he gasped as Ruby laughed manically as if she were Nora claiming she was, "Queen of the Castle". "Two an play at that game."

He stealthily made a snowball behind his back before launching it at the girl in red. Ruby's eyes opened at the noise of Jaune moving and watched as a snowball hit her in the shoulder, sending her twirling around before falling flat onto the snow field.

She looked surprise until she narrowed her eyes in anger. Quickly making a snow angel with the use of her semblance, she filled her hands with snow at he same time. She jumped back up and tossed the twin compact projectiles of snow at her best friend. One hit him in the face, the other struck where Pyrrha had been trying to get to for a long time.

He sang opera as he fell over, clutching his crotch in pain while Ruby looked down in guilt. Suddenly, thinking irrationally and completely forgetting Ruby was not his sister, Jaune tackled Ruby like he had done with Artie in their own snowball fights. Unfortunately for the teens, they were on a hill and soon they were tumbling down it.

They yelled loudly in surprise and fear, all the while gritting their teeth occasionally as their backs hit rocks imbedded in the hill underneath the snow. Finally, they landed at the bottom and found themselves in a compromising and very intimate position.

Ruby's eyes snapped open first and she immediately regretted it as she felt small snowflakes sting her eyes.

"Ow!" she squeaked and started rubbing her eyes furiously, eventually feeling the pain go down.

Soon the teens found themselves in front of the younger one's current residence, the doors closed now.

"So, wanna have some hot cocoa?" Ruby asked and the blonde's eyes lit up.

"Ooh, please?" he pleaded and the crimsonette smiled as her hand grabbed his and hauled him into the manor, toward the kitchen.

The whole way Jaune was yelling and whining as he flailed behind his partner in crime, desperately hanging onto her hand as rose petals appeared around him and smacked him in the face occasionally. Finally Ruby stopped at the threshold to the kitchen, but unfortunately for Jaune, he was slammed into the wall next to her.

"Ooh, sorry Jaune," she apologized and he let out a painful groan.

She managed to peel the blonde off of the wall before helping him into the kitchen, seating him in a chair while she ran around, getting ingredients for the hot chocolate. Soon she was setting a steaming cup in front of friend.

"Thanks," Jaune moaned and gripped the handle of the cup, bringing I up to his lips.

Unfortunately, yet again, he had forgotten that hot cocoa was called 'hot' cocoa for a reason.

"Yow!" he yelped loudly as he dropped the cup, said cup spilling hot chocolate liquid on his pants, mostly his still in pain crotch area.

It was about a couple minutes later that Aeren had healed him to the point he could heal himself with his aura.

"Nice one Jaune," Ruby joked and the Arc groaned.

The rest of the guests at Metastract Manor sat around them, Benedict sitting in a chair and laughing, Valance giggling as she sat next to her father, Ranulf. The last three members of Team AHRA were either leaning against a wall or sitting in a chair.

"So I quick got you a present," Ruby sheepishly spoke and handed Jaune a box wrapped in red and black.

"Uh, thanks," he replied and opened it, finding a cookie inside. "A cookie?"

"Yeah, cause you know, I like cookies and I thought you'd want to have one before you go back to Beacon," she replied, blushing heavily.

This did not go unnoticed by the rest of the present people. Benedict, covered his mouth with a fist, snickering into it while Valance did her hardest to not burst out laughing. Ranulf was simply smiling while Team AHRA, or at least the three members of it were nudging each other and gesturing at the blushing teens.

Before they knew it, Jaune's face was close to Ruby's and everyone was getting ready to take out their Scrolls in order to take pictures. Unfortunately, a certain Arc sibling jumped into the room.

"Hey!" Arthelle shouted and Jaune panicked, falling on his side while Ruby looked up in surprise at the elder Arc sibling's appearance.

"Artie?" Jaune asked, rubbing his head.

"Sup little bro," she said, bringing him into a hug. "Hey Ruby."

"Uh, hi Art," the red cloaked girl greeted back as a blonde man and a brunette woman walked into the room.

"Well this is lovely," Mrs. Arc spoke, looking around.

"Well I do try my best," Benedict gloated, but was cut off from saying anything more by a hard glare from Ruby.

"You own this mansion?" Mr. Arc asked, but Aeren stepped in.

"By technicality sir, this is considered a manor," she spoke and he nodded slowly.

"Hi mom, dad," Jaune greeted and they smiled, seeing their son.

However, their attention soon turned to the petite girl in red next to him. They inwardly widened their smiles as they approached the duo.

"So who is your friend, son?" Jaune's father asked and the said blonde looked over at Ruby.

"Oh, this is Ruby Rose, she was my first friend at Beacon," he said and they nodded.

"Wait, I thought I heard that you had died," Mrs. Arc said and the pale girl's face dropped.

Before anyone could react, Benedict cut in.

"That is a touchy subject with her Mrs. and Mr. Arc, I would strongly advise you two do not stress the subject."

"Oh, I'm sorry," the mother of the Arc siblings apologized quickly.

"It's alright ma'am," Ruby replied and the parents sighed in relief. "So what are you doing here?"

The two Arcs gestured at some luggage behind them and began to explain.

"We wanted to spend our holiday with our kids so we decided to come here to Magnus where Arthelle was stationed at," Mr. Arc spoke and patted his daughter on the back. "Unfortunately she didn't let us check in at any hotels on the way to this manor."

"Oh yeah, I kinda was going to ask if you could let them stay here Mr. Smith," Arthelle asked the reinstated hunter and he sighed, not in annoyance or frustration, in humor.

"Yes, that would be fine," he replied and the elder sibling of the Arc family pumped her fist in the air while the Arc parents gasped in shock.

"Are you sure, er- Mr. Smith?"

"It is perfectly fine, plenty of rooms for you to stay in over the holidays," Benedict said and picked up a present. "Speaking of holidays, Ruby you haven't opened my gift."

"What gif-"

She was cut off as a present fell onto her lap, wrapped in red and green wrapping. She looked up at her mentor/guardian who gestured for her to open it. She did and her eyes went wide when they landed on a bunch of metal parts with glowing crystalline structures. To most people it would look like some kind of weird, fancy jewelry or parts, to Ruby it was modifications to her sweetheart.

"You always said you wanted to try using dust crystals in Crescent Rose's design so I went ahead and made you some," he explained and I jumped up and down in joy.

"So, what next?" she asked and everyone shrugged.

"I say Christmas movie!" Valance cheered and Arthelle cheered along with her while everyone murmured their agreement or nodded.

* * *

Meanwhile

It was snowing in Atlas as Weiss Schnee sat amongst her family. She had decided to return home for the holidays in order to rub it in Wynter's face that she was excelling in her studies at Beacon. Much to her displeasure, her older sister was also excelling.

Only a few hundred miles away Pyrrha Nikos was with her family, constantly checking her Scroll to see if her 'boyfriend' had messaged her. Many boys had hoped to win her over during the holidays when she returned to Atlas, but were all dismayed when she showed them of a picture of her and Jaune.

Back in Vytal, Lie Ren was holding his chin with his hand as he rested his elbow on the table, stoically staring out the window as Nora Valkyrie jumped around, laughing and cheshire smiling.

In the city of Vale, Yang Xiao Long sat in her home with her father, enjoying the holidays with her friends and family. She was not mourning as one would thinking because on the day she left Beacon for the holidays, she discovered a 'hidden' gift Ruby had left for her shortly before her 'death'.

Unbeknownst to the blonde, Ruby had snuck into the dorms after Torchwick's attack, sneaking in a Christmas gift for her older sister inside of her suitcase. Yang held the rose emblem their mother had gifted to Ruby and cherished it greatly.

Blake Belladona sat in her dorm room, having no where to go for Christmas except the library, (un)fortunately for her, Sun Wukong had decided to try and cheer her up. While it was obvious that the blonde monkey faunas had an affection for her, she had quit certainly friend zoned him.

In the clock tower that stood at he center of Beacon, Ozpin stared out into the vast dark sky. He wondered what the future could hold, what might happen, and when chaos and discord would arise once more.

* * *

Ruby Rose POV

"Well, night everyone," I said as the movie finished.

Aeren showed Jaune's parents to their rooms while Ranulf carried a sleeping Valance out to his car parked outside. Arthelle had decided to crash here along with her team and Jaune with no other choice also decided to stay here until it was time to go back to Beacon.

I was dressed in my pajamas, walking towards my room when a hand grabbed me. I squeaked, but another hand covered my mouth before I could scream.

"Shh," Arthelle shushed and I decided to obey.

She pulled me into the room and I found myself in the living room, back where I first asked Mr. Smith to train me. Jaune was also here, staring at all the weapons like I had.

"This place is awesome!" he gasped in awe, but noticed me standing there. "Oh, uh hey Ruby."

"Hi Jaune," I replied and Art grinned evilly. "Art?"

"What?" she asked, her face now innocent looking. "I just got you guys here so I could get Ruby her gift."

"My present?" I asked and she gave me a small box.

I opened it and inside was a little plant thing. It had a couple leaves and a red ribbon.

"What's this?" I asked and Jaune shrugged while Art groaned in frustration.

"You guys need to get out more," she said and held out her hand. I gave it to her and she put it over us. "Ever heard of mistletoe kiss?"

Immediately it clicked in our heads and our cheeks turned as red as my cloak. The whole time Jaune's older sister was grinning like a madman, finally getting us in a romantic spot.

"You can't be serious Art?" Jaune asked and I felt a little pang in my heart. "We're just friends."

"Yeah, just friends," I added confidently so I wouldn't get embarrassed.

"Oh my God, you guys are so oblivious," she sighed in frustration before pinning the mistletoe on the ceiling with a spear she grabbed off a rack.

Then she grabbed us and put us underneath it, more or less shoving us.

"Ruby has a crush on you Jaune, Jaune has a crush on you Ruby," she bluntly said, plain and simple.

It took us a minute to register that, but when it clicked we looked at each other.

"You, uh... you like me?" I asked and he rubbed the back of his head while I played with my hands behind my back, nervously squirming.

He was too, gritting his teeth and looking away from me.

"Um, you like me?" he asked and I slowly nodded which made him nod back.

"Oh for Dust sake, Kiss!" she shouted and we looked at her before glaring.

We looked at each other before narrowing our eyes at his older sister who by now had a nervous expression on.

"Guys?" she asked as we took a step towards her.

"I dunno, maybe we should kiss and start dating," I said and tilted my head, looking up now that the top of my head was pointing at the Jaune.

He looked at me from the corner of his eye and noticed my look. He continued off of where I left, having an unnatural, mysterious tone to his voice.

"Or we could have some fun and spend our first date with you."

"W-with m-me?" she nervously stuttered as she backed up into a wall.

Before she knew it, two pairs of hands grabbed her.

* * *

Third Person POV

The Next Morning

"Hey, you seen the big boss?" Herold asked as he found Arthelle's armor pads next to her bed.

"Nah, think she went to go ask the bot for some coffee," Aiden spoke, but Ryuu proved him wrong.

"No, I met the blonde android earlier. Art has not been seen in the house since last night."

"Think she went for a wal-"

He was cut off when the noise of tapping was heard. They looked around, eyes searching for the source when Mr. Smith walked into the room.

"Hello," he greeted and they all waved as they kept searching. "Is something wrong?"

"We can't find the big boss and there's a tapping noise," Herold answered as he overturned a suitcase.

"You mean that tapping noise?" Benedict asked as there was more tapping.

The four men looked around before noticing a fist weakly tapping on the window. Opening it, they discovered Arthelle standing outside, rubbing her sides to keep her warm. She wore nothing, but her bra and panties, completely exposed to the snowing that had gone on in the night. The snow had risen up to her waist, completely leaving her naked, trapped, and freezing. A fitting punishment Ruby and Jaune had done.

Across the manor, Ruby woke up to the sound of snoring and looked up to see Jaune next to her. She blushed and unwrapped his arms off of her, jumping out of bed. They hadn't done anything last night, save for gagging Arthelle and stripping her before throwing her out a window. After that Ruby was to tired to walk and had Jaune carry her bridal style to her room, unfortunately she had fallen asleep halfway there.

Both fortunately and unfortunately for him, when he laid her down in the crimson sheets she wouldn't let go of his arm. If he tried she would squeeze harder, if he tried harder she'd almost break the bones in his arm. So giving up, he slid in bed with her and there they were.

* * *

**Done**

**I hope you liked this chapter**

**I sure loved writing it**

**All those RoseArc moments**

**I support RubyxJaune all the way**

**And also BlakexSun**

**Maybe a little NoraxRen**

**Anyways, I loved writing this, all of it**

**The tree scene where Jaune catches Ruby is inspired by a picture I found on Deviant Art**

**Web Address here:  
****http (:) / (/) ****exnir deviantart com/art/RWBY-Rescue-40634364**

**I had to work hard on getting this Address in so just take out the parenthesis and the spaces, put in periods where they need to be**

**Originally I was planning a kiss in the end, then I thought of letting Arthelle lose this one**

**So that's when I thought of how hilarious it would be to find your totes hot leader, half nude, sitting in a snow pile, and freezing.**

**I kinda got a dirty mind**

**Anyways, lot more to go**

**Remember to Review, Favorite, and Follow**

**Lord Revan Flame, signing off**


	16. Volume 2 Begins

**Hello viewers**

**Been a while hasn't it?**

**So here's what you've all been waiting for**

**The story has now entered Volume 2!**

**So AU going on from here**

**We be entering uncharted waters, matey!**

**So let us begin!**

* * *

Third Person POV

It was the day before the second semester that everyone had returned to Beacon. Lunch time had come around and everyone sat in the cafeteria. After the last two attacks on Beacon, funding for the school had increased to help upgrade its defenses.

"Watcha doing?" Yang asked as she peered over Blake's shoulder.

"Just... looking over notes from last class," she spoke, closing her journal full of sketches of memories from her old life in the White Fang.

"Lame," her partner remarked before catching a cherry in her mouth, catapulted by the ever energetic Nora.

"Good morning Team!" Jaune shouted with enthusiasm as he set a massive book down on the table.

"Is that my binder?" Pyrrha asked and he stared at her for a moment.

"No..." he trailed off, causing a few people in the group to snicker at his failed attempt to rub off the accusation. "Well, uh... I was wondering if... uh..."

He kept stuttering and stammering as he tried to form a coherent sentence. His mind wandered back to the week before, when he spent his winter break in Magnus with his family and... Ruby.

***Flashback***

"You left your sister out there!" Jaune's mother screamed at the two guilty teenagers who sat in the main room with the Arc parents and Benedict looking down at them.

While the blonde and brunette parents were furious at their behavior, Benedict was more or less snickering into his palm before recomposing himself to seem furious for the Arcs.

"Well she did try to set us up," Ruby tried to state, but they glared at her.

"Jaune, you are never visiting this place again if this girl is what's turning you into a, into a..." his father trailed off when he noticed a small pale hand holding a slightly bigger more tanned one.

Both teens were shrinking into the couch, but holding hands seemed to keep both calm in the situation.

"Are, are you two...?" Jaune's father asked and they looked down at their intertwined hands.

"Oh, dad we're uh... um, we're..." Jaune trailed off, but before anyone could answer, Benedict let loose a hearty laugh.

He couldn't control himself as he continued his laughter until finally, it ended with tears streaming down his face.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he apologized as he wiped the tears off his cheeks and recomposed himself. "It's just that the wee little one's got a boyfriend."

Ruby turned as red as her cloak and the same went for the blonde next to her.

"Sir, we're just-"

"Dating?" Mr. Smith asked and they turned even more red.

"Um, son. You have a girlfriend now?" Mr. Arc asked, his wife to stunned to ask the question herself.

"Well I have had a girlfriend for a while now," he said and their eyes bulged.

"When did you two start dating?" Mrs. Arc joyfully asked, all giddy to learn about their relationship.

"Well I guess after we threw Art outside," Ruby admitted and said Arc sibling was bundled up in blankets with a thermometer in her mouth, her eyes glaring lasers at the petite girl and scrawny blonde.

"I assumed that was the reason you and Mr. Arc were cuddling in bed," Aeren stated and both teens' mouths creaked open showing grit teeth as all three parental figures went wide.

"You what!" Mrs. Arc screamed in fury.

Several days later Jaune was packing up to go back to Beacon and Ruby was sitting on his bed. After a long and awkward talk with their parents and Benedict, they managed to come to an agreement. Jaune and Ruby could date so long as they held a stable and non-naughty relationship which meant Arthelle could not get involved, much to her displeasure.

"So when do you think you can come back?" Ruby asked, blushing as she did.

Jaune blushed all the same and rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, I think maybe during spring break. You could come over to the family castle."

"You guys have a castle!" Ruby exclaimed with awe and he nodded, smiling.

"It's just like Crocea Mors, a hand me down. We can't really furnish everything, we just pay to live in it. No maids, no servants, no super eccentric stuff, just desks, tables, couches, chairs, and beds."

"What about chandeliers?" the girl in red asked and he looked up at the small one hanging in her room.

"Like that, but with candles."

"Awesome!" she cried out, all giddy and he smiled. "Definitely coming over, where's it at?"

"It's near Vale, kinda like Magnus, but a bit farther and surrounded by some tall hills and small mountains.

"So its got a natural wall," she marveled and he shrugged in response.

"Come on Jaune, we're leaving," his mother spoke through the door, knocking on it a bit.

"Okay!" he shouted back and looked over at his girlfriend, an actual person who loved him and didn't kill people to get him to love them. "So, um... goodbye?"

"Nope," she chirped and jumped off the bed, "we got to make it to the door first."

"Oh, right," he sheepishly replied and the couple made their way to the foyer.

Suitcases were stacked up on top of each other while the Arc parents stood together, speaking with the soon to be teacher of Beacon.

"So what would you be teaching?" Mr. Arc questioned and he shrugged.

"I suppose Ozpin will have me instruct combat training. As I hear your son is not doing well in the class, but is slowly rising."

"Hopefully, he can be an excellent huntsman like his great grandfather," the mister stated proudly and the reinstated huntsman nodded.

"He is an Arc and your family is known for your great will and strength."

The clatter of footsteps caught their attention as the two teens walked out into the foyer.

"Ready to get back to Beacon, soon to be son in law?" Benedict joked and both the student and ex-student burned rose red. "Come on now, you get to ride with me back to Beacon."

"Y-yeah," the blonde boy stuttered, obviously fearing the trip with his girlfriend's guardian.

"Bye Jaune," Ruby stated and stood on her tip toes to peck him on the cheek.

Now he was stuttering and blushing, the perfect combination to make the adults laugh.

***Flashback End***

Now he was, with everyone, and Pyrrha...

"Jaune, you Jauney Boy?" Yang asked, snapped her fingers in his face before he came back to reality.

"What? Oh!" he said as he realized where he was. "Well, I got to thinking and I thought we should start the semester off with a bang!"

"You've become a lot more courageous during the winter break, haven't you?" Ren asked and he nodded.

"I did some soul searching and decided it was time to get serious," he lied, pulling off a smirk to try and act like he was flirting with Pyrrha.

Of course the truth was he and Ruby had spent a lot of time together. Over time, they had gone out to town, eaten at different cafes and restaurants, and even spending time in the Magnus Park. He had gotten enough courage to officially ask her to be his girlfriend and when they got him they discovered that the parents had been using Aeren to listen to them from Ruby's Scroll. To say Ruby was furious was a true understatement, Bendict found himself the victim of her wrath during her training sessions, sporting multiple cuts and bruises along with a multitude of scorch marks from used Dust attacks.

Back to the present, of course. Yang snorted and caught a raspberry before deciding a pun was necessary.

"Well I always start my semesters off with a Yang!" she cheered and everyone groaned at her pun. "Oh come o-"

She didn't finish her sentence as an apple booped her nose, causing her to growl and grab it off her lap. In minutes the lunch room was a war zone with Jaune, Nora, Ren, Yang, and Blake versus Pyrrha, Weiss, and Roxanne. Believing they were more than enough for the three huntresses and two huntsman in training, they deciding to charge.

* * *

Several Hours Later

After Teams RWBY and JNPR had cleaned up their mess in the cafeteria, they were allowed back to bed. Meanwhile, in the headmaster's office, Benedict Smiethrun was being educated on his new position at Beacon.

"Combat Trainer, knew it," he stated and Ozpin chuckled at his remark.

"Of course you would," he replied and patted him on the shoulder as he moved to look out the clock face that was his window. "Ben, do you ever wonder if they're happy up there?"

"Of course I do," he replied, falling into the chair reserved for students who were called up to meet the professor. "And they probably wonder if we're happy down here."

"Are we?"

"No," the brown haired man softly said, his voice returning to its low, baritone which depicted his state of depression, but also humble nature, "no we are not. Not until the men who brought upon their deaths and the deaths of the many are brought to justice."

"Indeed, then let us strive towards that goal together," Ozpin spoke as he raised his arm.

It was as if he was readying himself for an arm wrestling competition, but this was not so. Benedict smiled and walked up to his old friend, doing the same as their hands connected.

"We stand together," the reinstated huntsman stated with pride.

Soon their meeting was over and Benedict headed towards his quarters at Beacon, the 'Teacher Dorm' as it was called. Along the way, he collided with a certain blonde.

"Oh, hello Jaune," he greeted and the klutz of Beacon shyly rubbed the back of his head while saying, "Hello". "What brings you to me?"

"Oh, well... I, um... I never got to ask you if I could, well... date Ruby," he nervously squeaked and he raised an eyebrow.

"You wish for my permission?"

"Well you are like her father figure."

"That question would be better suited for her real father as well as her sister and as I have heard I would suggest getting armored protection, mostly around your more private parts."

The mentioning of Yang immediately turned the Arc deathly pale in fear, but he shook it off, trying to keep a cool head as he asked the teacher/girlfriend's guardian for his blessing.

"So, um... well where is Ruby's real dad then," he asked and Benedict looked away, frowning and a distant look in his eyes.

"Not here, not anywhere," he solemnly stated, his voice dropping to a baritone.

"So, he's... um-"

"Gone? Know, just not here nor is he anywhere. He lost the right to be her father years ago," Benedict growled and looked out a window in the hall, staring at the broken moon. "Her step father, Jian Xiao Long resided within Vale, he lives within the residential district, not far from Signal Academy."

"Oh, well..." the blonde trailed off as he processed that information. "uh..."

"Well Mr. Arc, are you fit to protect her when she needs to be defended, will you stand by her when she is outnumbered and outmatched, and will you not hurt her, ever?"

"Yes!" Jaune answered, confident and knowingly making a promise to be with Ruby no matter what.

"Then you will make a fine boyfriend," the reinstated huntsman laughed as he patted the young man on the shoulder, walking past him towards the dormitory for the staff, leaving the blonde blushing red, but also cheering silently in the hall.

* * *

Across Vale, hidden within the various warehouses there was a small force of Faunas donned in Grimm masks and wearing steel grey armor. The White Fang moved more crates into the warehouse while Roman Torchwick observed the map of Vale, staring at the highlighted districts and places.

"Ah, she sent the kids," he marveled as a green haired, dark skinned girl and a silvery-gray hair and pale skin boy walked in.

They exchanged words, arguing before a woman in a crimson dress stepped out of the shadows. A platform lowered her down to the first floor, allowing her to walk towards the trio of villains. Her glass heels clicked as they struck the ground, the noise resounding around the three.

She berated them, teeth grit and making her beauty deadly.

"We're proceeding to Phase Two," she softly spoke and turned to walk towards an airship, but failed to notice the metal monstrosity before her.

She stood before Deadlock, his poisonous green optics zoomed in on her as his metal mouth was in a scowl.

"And what of me, Cinder? What am I to do?"

"You are to stay put until called upon. We do not need your services yet, bounty hunter," she stated and stepped past him as he growled electronically.

* * *

The days passed by lazily at Beacon. More students arrived, Sun had come to stay at Beacon for the duration of the second semester along with his friend, Neptune Vasilias. Little things happened here and there, studying at the library, snoring in class, training, Jaune beating everyone at a board game, and then there was training with Mr. Smiethrun.

The days counted by as Jaune tried to break up with Pyrrha, but he had little courage to do so. It was like asking Ruby out all over again, a lot of stuttering, stammering, and sweating, except this time he had a reason to keep trying.

"Hit me!" Benedict roared and Jaune swung at him.

The sword was easily blocked by the other sword. While Jaune was breathing heavily, all be it, not as heavily as he did at the beginning of the first semester, now he was once more, but only because he had been fighting for sometime now. The training session was rigorous, harsh, and full of challenges that pitted students against the huntsman himself.

Benedict was a flurry of death, having learned quickly to wield the sword and shield, he twirled and used his shield as if it was a sword as well. He swung and parried, blocked and dodged, slashed and stabbed, and did just about everything, but probably a few moves. Jaune was holding up fairly well, but he sported a dozen or so bruises and small cuts, however, he didn't give up.

"Come on boy, I don't have all day," Benedict stated as he swung his shield arm, letting the light shine off its reflective surface.

Jaune gave a battle cry and ran at him, but the huntsman's foot connected with his chestplate and sent him flying back.

"Good effort, but you need to work on your parrying as well as timing," Benedict remarked as he helped up the blonde teen. "Anyone else?"

"My turn!" Yang cheered in delight and charged at him.

Throwing the blonde at his team, Benedict raised his shield and took the full brunt of the new blonde's attack. The effect was simultaneous, Yang bounced off his shield as he stood his ground.

"Come here!" he roared, slamming the flat of his blade against the shield.

She smirked and ran at him, swinging both arms at the huntsman to try and beat him. Yang made a crucial mistake, however. As she continued her onslaught of punches, each shell of Ember Celica plowing into his shield or striking his coat, she left herself open.

He rushed forward, finding new vigor as the plan formed in his head. Her eyes widened and she tried to back up, but she was to late as he swung his sword at her neck. It stopped in inch from her vital body part. Unfortunately for the steel eyed warrior, he failed to notice the strand of blonde hair falling to the ground.

"Aggressive, but strong willed and-"

He didn't get to finish as he witnessed her hair begin to glow golden and her eyes turn blood red with rage.

"Wha-"

Her kick hit his groin and he doubled over in pain, then her fist struck his chest, sending him up. She fired a barrage of blasts at him and sent him flying into the wall. He peeled off of it and landed on his face, groaning in pain as she advanced towards him, almost as fast as her sister.

Quickly acting, he thrust a palm out and sent a blast of concentrated aura, also known as his semblance. The sudden blast of aura sent her tumbling back until she caught her footing and charged through the storm of force. He pulled both arms back and she sped towards him, but was forced into a wall again by a more powerful attack with his semblance.

"Good show of force..." Benedict trailed off from his sentence as he fell over, grasping his pained groin while calling for Ms. Goodwitch.

* * *

Jaune POV

"What am I getting myself into?" I sighed as I put on the new outfit Team WBY got me.

Apparently they wanted to go investigate the White Fang and I just happened to step in right when they said that name. I wanted the notes for Prof. Oobleck's class! Not to go get mauled by angry Faunas!

"Come on kid," the blue haired guy, Neptune said as we walked out of the girls' room.

Sun was going with Blake, Yang and Weiss were going alone, while Neptune got paired with me since Blake didn't want any flirting during the mission. They tricked Roxanne into thinking they were going out to town to get school supplies while she stayed in the dorm rooms. I told Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora that I was going to go call my parents from the CCT.

I was wearing the new outfit which was a black jacket over a white t-shirt and just regular jeans, but I had on these pitch black armor pads that were like my white ones, but black. Then there were these two Grimm skulls on my shoulders, well they were the bone plates on the head of a Grimm, but they were small enough and light enough to act like armored protection for my shoulder.

Anyways, Neptune and I were walking around Vale, seeing if we could get any clues to what they were doing. We visited some clubs, bars, stores, cafes, even a pet shop.

Eventually we came to Dust Till Dawn, the dust shop that Ruby first fought Torchwick in. The storeowner welcomed us and we smiled before asking him some questions.

"No, don't know anything about Torchwick or his goons," he shrugged and we sighed.

"Hey, what's that?" I asked as I saw some cool looking dust.

It was colored blue, like dark blue, but it glowed. It was in the form of a dust crystal so you could crush it easily and use it.

"It's new shipment of dust, they call it Fortune Telling Dust, Seer Dust for short," he explained and grabbed a small vial of it, taking out a pinch of it with his fingers.

"Let me show you."

He sprinkled some on my head and my mind was suddenly filled with images. Everything had gone dark, but those images, wait, they were videos. It was like a movie!

_I saw me in a suit, like a tuxedo. Why was I in a tuxedo suit? Then I saw her, she was wearing a white dress and stuff like she was going to a wedding. Wait, wedding? Holy crap I'm at my wedding. She had a bit of long hair, it was red and went down to her shoulders, brushing them a bit._

_"I swear to God, if I marry Pyrrha I'll... wait, that's to dark to be Pyrrha's hair so it has to be- Ruby!"_

_It was Ruby, she was smiling and I was too, both of us blushing while the priest was reading the vows._

_"You may now kiss the bri-"_

_He didn't get a chance to finish as Ruby jumped on me and kissed me. I had to hold her up since she was smaller than me, but that just made everyone watching say, ah._

_Suddenly, the vision changed. I was standing in a valley with a castle nearby. Wait, that's my castle, I mean my family castle. In front of me was a big guy, no massive, wait, correction, I mean ginormous! He was at least two and a half airships stacked on top of each other._

_Actually, that only added to how intimidating it was. His skin was almost black, but it was a bit light enough to be a really dark grey, almost like that dark steel metal Deadlock was made out of, but it didn't shine. Though, the scariest/most coolest part about him was the bone plates on him. They looked like they were actually fused to him like he was a Grimm, wait... he was a Grimm._

_The bone plates were assorted all over him, across his chest was a massive chest plate made of dark steel armor and bone plates while his shoulders had two large skulls on them that looked like dinosaur skulls. His arms had the bone plates of some Grimm's hand with claws. The legs had more bone plate armor with dark steel mixed in, but then I saw his head._

_The lower jaw of some Grimm was being used as armor for his own lower jaw, completely making his mouth gone behind it while he wore the Grimm's bone plate for its head on his head. His eyes were burning red suns, like Yang's but brighter and full of hate. From where I stood in front of the titan I could see his back was adorned with more bone plates with dark steel plates also mixed in._

_In one hand he had a massive Morningstar, large spikes adorning the sides of the top piece which was a giant cylinder like thing. The staff was long and at the end was a razor sharp bladed tip. That's when I noticed his hands, they were clawed with Grimm bone plates._

_"Why we follow you!" the giant monster human, Grimm thing roared at me, its voice gruff and full of rage._

_"We need your help!" I shouted back, er- my future self yelled._

_"Never! Weak knight betray us! Weak knight lock us away! Now Little Arc command us! I strongest Grimm Knight! I strongest warrior!"_

_A roar of approval and agreement followed and I looked behind him to see a small force of the same guy, but kinda different. They had assorted versions of his armor, no one had skulls on their shoulders, but they did have Grimm skulls on their heads. One had a Grimm skull, but it had dark steel outlining with some kind of visor thing that covered his face. Another had a dark steel helmet with a single thin visor going across where his eyes would be while several thin lines let him breathe through it._

_Overall, these guys were scary._

_"Th-then I challenge you!" I shouted and the cheering stopped._

_"You challenge I? I crush you! I kill you! I destroy you!" he bellowed and swung the Morningstar._

_I screamed and jumped out of the way, falling on my butt. He swung back and struck the ground where I was, but I managed to roll out of the way. It bounced off the ground so he swung a clawed hand at me, but I jumped forward and landed on my feet. He slammed the Morningstar down on me, but I jumped back on my feet and immediately saw an opening._

_I found myself running up his arm, before jumping into the air, shield in front of me as I headed for his armored face._

_Then the vision shifted._

_I saw Ruby running off, tears falling while Yang was holding Benedict against a wall. Her hair was glowing golden and her eyes were blood red as she shouted at him over and over again._

_"You lied to her!" she screamed and punched him in the face repeatedly._

_Then it all went black._

"Huh!" I gasped as I got up, looking around in surprise as I saw the inside of Dust Till Dawn.

"Are you okay?" the shop owner asked and I nodded, looking around.

"What happened?"

"The dust renders the user unconscious. You fell over and fell asleep so your friend left to find another one of your friends while I looked over you."

"Oh," I said, realizing Neptune had gone, then I remembered the dust. "Uh, how much is that dust?"

"You want it?" he asked and I nodded quickly. "Well, it's rare and strong so... 300 Lien."

My eyes went wide and I sighed in defeat. Before walking out of the shop.

* * *

Ruby POV

Several Days Later

"Ah!" I squealed as I opened the package.

"Whoa! What?" Valance asked as I jumped up and down really fast.

"Jaune sent me a gift!"

"You're boyfriend?" she asked in a sly voice and I blushed.

"Be quiet," I replied and opened it to find a large vial full of dust. It was glowing with a dark blue color and there was a lot of it. "Please read me."

I opened up the letter inside and started reading immediately.

_"Hi Ruby_

_It's me, Jaune. You know, boyfriend and best buddy. Can we still be that if we're dating? Anyways, I got you this cool dust I found at Dust Till Dawn. It's called Seer Dust and it lets you see bits and pieces of the future, shop owner's words, not mine. Also, when you use it, don't use it while you're awake, you'll fall over asleep. Use it when you got to bed please. I can't wait until spring break for you to come visit me at Arc Castle. So, yeah. Miss you._

_Sincerely,  
Your knight shining armor_

_P.S.- I wrote this in pen so sorry if it sounds messed up."_

"Ah," Valance cooed and I blushed as I stuffed it in my pocket before holding up the vial.

"Gonna use you tonight," I stated before looking back at the game Valance, Penny, and I were playing.

It was later in the day after Valance had gone home and Penny had decided to turn in did I take the vial back out. I watched it light up my room with a faint, dark blue glow. I smiled and took a pinch of it out before setting the vial down on my bedside table. Sprinkling it on me, I felt darkness take over.

_"In the beginning, there was darkness, but then there was light," a familiar voice spoke, male and calm, "a light so brightly lit, it seemed hope lingered within it. Darkness was pushed back to the far corners of the world, hidden within nature."_

_"However, where there is light there must be darkness, for every force in the universe, there is an equal and an opposite," a female voice spoke, sweet and deadly, "for every matter, an anti-matter."_

_"Legends speak of the Grimm Artifacts, the antithesis to our power, Dust," the male voice spoke again, narrating a vision of a chalice, a crown, and a glowing orb thing._

_"The Black Chalice, the power to turn the blood of Men or Faunas into the blood of that which they drink, the Bone Crown, an artifact of power designed to control the very creatures from which it was forged from, and the Grimm Soul, the most powerful artifact of all time, the heart of darkness itself, coming from Hell and laying waste to all it would be used against."_

_"While Dust grants the unimaginable power of the universe itself, the Grimm Artifacts allow their users to bend the universe and its dark inhabitants to their will."_

_"One artifact is close to being recovered, the second has yet to be located, and the final is as mysterious as the second."_

_"This is our darkest hour, the light of Beacon is gone, its flame blown out. Vytal is in ruins, towns and cities, villages and homes razed by the dark hordes."_

_An image of Vale appeared, smoke rising from it while the buildings crumbled and in the distance stood a ruined Beacon._

_"This is our finest hour! Beacon has fallen and soon all of Vytal shall be within our hand. Victory is within our grasp!"_

_The vision changed and I was standing against a horde of humanoid Grimm with a bunch of machines behind them, pointing a variety of weaponry at me._

_"Time to die, Little Red!" Torchwick laughed as they aimed their weapons on me._

_Crescent Rose was at my side, no I was at its side, leaning on it. I was on the edge of a rooftop, tired and exhausted from the battle. I backed up and slipped off the roof, falling silently as I felt the air in me leave my mouth._

_"Ruby!"_

_I was caught by a knight in broken armor, blonde hair like the sun and blue eyes like the sky. We exchanged words, but then the enemy locked onto us. Suddenly, a loud roar resounded throughout Vale as a hulking Grimm came out of nowhere and tore all of them apart before staring down at us._

_The vision shifted yet again and this time I was exhausted again, but I also felt relieved. I saw Crescent Rose headed towards me, twirling through the air as a woman in a crimson dress smirked._

_"Ruby!" Jaune shouted as he ran towards me._

_Even with all my speed and training, I wouldn't be fast enough to dodge._

_"Bye Jaune," I murmured and closed my eyes._

_Suddenly, a shadow was cast over me and I felt a warm liquid spray over me. I opened my eyes and stared at a wall of black in front of me._

_"Jaune!"_

* * *

**Done**

**I hoped you liked this chapter**

**Lots of cliffhangers in here for your frustrating pleasure**

**Next chapter we go right into the bot battle with Torchwick versus everyone**

**So, please send me feedback**

**Also**

**Should I make up the next couple of episodes?**

**Or should I just skip over to a part of the storyline that I can continue writing off of?**

**Review, Favorite, and Follow**

**Lord Revan Flame, signing off**


	17. Return of Ruby Rose

**Hey guys, what's up!**

**New chapter!**

**And as you can read, Ruby Rose returns!**

**Awesome battle scene ahead!**

**Get your cloths to wipe up the foam that'll come from your mouth**

**Make sure you got some extra underwear since you'll nerdgasm**

**And soundproof your room so no one else can hear you squeal in joy**

**Let's Roll!**

* * *

Third Person POV

If one did not understand truly what was going on, they would have thought that the White Fang was attacking Vale. They could not have been that far from the truth for the giant mechanical suit driven by Roman Torchwick was chasing Blake Belladonna and Sun Wukong.

Several nights ago they had been reported missing after they had attempted to escape a White Fang meeting. Blake had pulled Gambol Shroud out, only for the bullet to strike Deadlock instead. They were captured, but thankfully, Blake was able to free both of them, however, Torchwick and his newest plaything were nearby at the same time.

They jumped across rooftops, but when those came to an end, they resorted to car roofs. Yang followed hind, having picked up Jaune and Neptune on the way. The blue haired huntsman in training shot his weapon before turning it into a trident ad impaling it into the mechanized menace. It, however, began throwing him around like a ragdoll and to save him, Sun used his own spectral semblance, sending two spectral clones at the Torchwick mech.

He and his partner were, unfortunately, thrown off the highway. Having received a plea for help already, Weiss leaped down from another highway, landing on the one occupying her friends and enemy. Freezing the ground, she caused the bot to slip and fall over the side of the highway, crashing through one of the energy barriers.

It landed on the ground, Team JNPR standing there as WBY joined them. Jaune had decided extra back up would be necessary for this and so there they were, seven against one.

* * *

Ruby POV

"Ow," I mumbled as I woke up, looking around.

I was in a car, an upside down car. Why was it upside down? Oh, wait, giant robot on the highway, remember now. I saw Blake and Sun jumping across cars and then that giant robot was chasing them, but why?

"Ms. Rose, are you alright?" I heard and looked to see Aeren who had torn off the car door next to me.

"Oh, uh... yeah, I think," I answered, but the moment I moved I felt a lot of pain in my side. "Ow ow ow, scratch that. In pain."

"Ruby are you okay?" Penny asked as Aeren helped her out of the car too.

"Just dandy," I replied as began healing us.

She managed to get me out of the car crash and healed me up quick, thank you androids and healing dust! I peered over the side of the highway and witnessed my old team and Team JNPR fighting the robot.

"Dry Ice!" Weiss called out and I grit my teeth.

"It's Freezerburn," I growled as she and Yang made a bunch of mist.

They darted around in the cover, fooling the mech until Blake appeared.

"Checkmate!" she called and Weiss shot out with her at the robot thing.

They were working like the team I helped train, slicing and slashing, working like a well oiled fighting machine. I smiled when Blake go a power up and blew up a bunch of missiles headed for her.

"Blonde Fury!" Yang shouted and grabbed Jaune.

"Whaaaaa!" my boyfriend screamed as he got tossed through the air, being a distraction for Yang so when the robot looked away she could jump on its back.

Ember Celica expanded and she started punching/blasting its hull, blowing off huge chunks of armor. It jumped back suddenly and smashed her through a couple of pillars.

"Yang!" Blake shouted and ran after her, but I tried to yell at her to stop.

They probably couldn't hear me from up here or maybe the robot was making to much noise, but whatever it was, I couldn't stop her from heading over to Yang. She didn't need help and because Blake was over there, their whole plan blew up.

Blake got punched away and Yang looked in worry before she was stomped on. The mech turned to Ren, Pyrrha, and Nora who fired a large haze of bullets that barely affected the mech. It fired its own energy weapons and blew them all away. Then it aimed at Weiss and Jaune, but Weiss, like the coward she was, ran away leaving... Jaune!

I did the only rational thought in my mind after that, I jumped.

* * *

Third Person POV

"Whoa!" Jaune screamed as the mech aimed its laser sights on him, red lines slicing through the thin veil of mist that still remained.

They targeted his chest plate, but before Torchwick could fire, a red blur grabbed Jaune and set him behind a pillar. He blinked and looked around in time to see another red blur grab his team and put them behind another pillar. Yang and Blake were also pulled behind a pillar, all of them saved by the red blur.

Out of nowhere the blur shot at the mech and a loud clanging and slicing sound resounded throughout the area. A small, petite figure landed on the ground, clad in a red cloak and wielding a massive scythe.

"That's not possible," Weiss gasped in shock as everyone goggled.

Jaune smiled wide and everyone else just gaped as Ruby turned to face the robot.

"Little Red? Oh joy! You're back!" Torchwick shouted as he stepped back a bit. "You like this? It's he final product of the Elysium Paladin. Oh all the strings we pulled to steal this!"

"I'm going to wreck that new toy, Torchwick," she calmly stated with a smile making the man inside scowl.

"Alright, then let's dance!" he shouted and turned his fists into cannons, aiming at her.

She shot forward like a speeding bullet, jumping up and slicing the Hard Mythrium blade of Crescent Rose across its armor hull. Red lights blinked in Roman's cockpit, making him growl as he swung the mech's upper body around to slap the girl away. She jumped again and somersaulted right next to Jaune.

"Hey," she said and he smiled at her as they stared down the bot. "Remember RoseArc?"

He smiled even wider, the memories of them creating a special move to take down one of Benedict's more powerful automatons.

"Yeah, but we had to have Artie's help to cut off the arms."

"And now we got two teams of hunters in training," she explained and both of them smiled. "Ladybug!"

The red clad girl shot forward and sliced through more of Torchwick's bot, but Blake didn't follow. The cat faunas was to in shock to move or even act.

"Blake! Ladybug!"

She snapped out of it and smiled, jumping forward to aid her old leader. Gambol Shroud sliced through the metal and cleaved off one arm, then it was returned to its sheath as Blake landed next to Ruby.

"Ren! Nora!" Jaune called and they snapped out of it to aim their weapons.

They fired a barrage of bullets and grenades that severely damaged the other arm which was sliced off when Jaune ran and managed to cleave the mechanical limb from the rest of its chassis. Ruby spun her 'sweetheart' and impaled it into the ground so the rifle barrel was pointed at the robot. She took aim and fired off a stream of dust enhanced shots that tore through the armor and reduced it to a sparking husk that could barely stand.

"We need to finish it off!" Blake shouted as they dodged a blast from one its active guns.

An idea popped up in the red cloaked girl's head and she ran over to her older sister.

"Yang! Get angry!"

"What?" the blonde asked as they dodged an energy blast.

"Get angry! Now!"

"I can't you're alive! I'm to excited!" she confessed and Jaune ran over.

"What do we d-"

He was cut off as Ruby pulled him down and kissed him, right in front of Yang. In seconds her eyes had turned blood red and her hair had begun to glow like the sun. She aimed her fist for Jaune, but Ruby pulled them to he ground so her older sister could fly at the mech instead. Needless to say, the base component parts of the robot menace were scattered while Torchwick lay on his back, wheezing.

"I just got the suit cleaned," he coughed as he got up, wiping dust from his white suit. "Both suits in fact."

Ruby aimed Crescent Rose and fired, but a woman dropped down, wielding an umbrella. The shot blasted the umbrella, but it did not destroy it. She pulled it up and set it on her shoulder while taking a bow, greatly infuriating the heroes.

"Well, well, well, Little Red, I'll be seeing you later. Neo, if you would?" Roman spoke and the pink and brown haired woman pulled her umbrella forward to turn it into a shield right before Yang could pummel them.

They shattered into shards of tinted glass and the noise of a Bullhead taking off filled everyone's ears as they watched Torchwick escape, again.

"Well, I guess she made our plans... shatter?" Jaune sheepishly joked and Ruby snorted.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed his chest plate and pulled him towards Yang.

"You little blond weasel!" she screeched and was about to punch him, but Ruby grabbed her arm and held the fist back, away from her boyfriend's face.

"Yang! Stop!"

"What did I do! Was it the pun?"

"No, that was a good pun, probably better than anything Ice Queen could come up with. But that's not it!"

She was about to punch him when they were suddenly encased in ice.

"Yang?" Ruby asked as she backed up, staring at her sister and boyfriend who were trapped in ice.

She looked over to see the same with Blake, Ren, and Nora. It immediately clicked so she jumped back as an ice shard struck where she stood. Pyrrha and Weiss were red faced, scowling as they glared at her.

"How are you alive!" Weiss screamed at the young girl who stuck her tongue out. "You insufferable Little Red!"

She twirled Myrtenaster before holding it at a ready position. She shot the rapier forward and her feet slid across the ground as if she were on ice. The movement was fluid and swift, but Ruby was faster. She dodged and raised Crescent Rose to block Pyrrha's attack. She spun and smashed the blunt end of her scythe against Pyrrha's leg, dropping her down into a kneeling position.

"You don't want to do this!" she shouted with determination, but they didn't care.

Weiss moved her hand, pointing two fingers up and a glyph appeared under Ruby. Before she could react, she was thrown into a pillar, making a cracked crater in it. Some slabs fell off as Ruby stumbled backwards, dazed. Another glyph appeared underneath her and Weiss shot her into the pillar repeatedly. Luckily, on the second or third time, she couldn't tell, she had activated her aura and created a shield around her.

Making a plan, she used her semblance on the tenth time and ran up the pillar at an insane speed, leaving a shower of rose petals to slowly float down. Quickly turning on her heel, she shot right back down the pillar, Weiss trying to place a glyph where she'd be, but Ruby kept circling around, moving around the semblance marks that her former teammate placed down.

Soon she hit the ground and sped at the white haired girl whose eyes were wide with fear. At the last second, right before they collided, Ruby jumped up, arm outstretched and clotheslined her. Both combatants flew through the air until Ruby landed on her feet, sliding while Weiss crashed on her back, dazed as she witnessed tiny Beowolves circling over her.

Ruby smirked, but it diminished when she saw Pyrrha aiming her rifle. She fired and Ruby shot forward, moving around the Spartan as she attempted to murder her. Finally fed up with her missing shots, Pyrrha transformed the rifle into its javelin form, aiming with her thumb before firing. The smaller, younger girl let out a yelp as the blade pinned her cloak to a pillar, keeping her still as Pyrrha got ready to throw her shield.

She threw the shield, but a figure dropped down and grabbed the shield before it struck her. Pyrrha gasped as a porcelain woman with platinum blonde hair stared at her stoically. She turned and looked at Ruby, smiling and the petite girl returned the smile.

"Hello Ms. Rose," Aeren greeted as she threw the shield back, Pyrrha diving to dodge it. "Do you wish me to punish them?"

She wasted no time in hesitating, letting out her anger.

"Yes."

Everything happened instantly, Aeren threw Weiss at Pyrrha before rushing them. Pyrrha threw the white haired girl off of her to aim her rifle a she laid down, but the android was to swift. Her porcelain colored hand was on the barrel before she could shoot and in an instant Aeren had her foot on Pyrrha's chest with the rifle held high in the air. She raised it and stepped on Pyrrha making her shout in pain before being kicked into Weiss.

The heiress had already gotten up with Myrtenaster in hand, trying to find an opening. Suddenly, Aeren jumped into a shadow and disappeared before coming down on Weiss. Her robotic arm opened up, a long, wicked blade shooting out with a loud 'shing' noise. She swung and made a long cut across Weiss' arm before dropping into a crouch. Placing a hand on the ground, she swung her lower body up and it began to spin.

Her legs repeatedly spun around and kicked Weiss in the face until she fell over, unconscious.

"Die!" was the only thing Ruby heard as Pyrrha came at her with Milo and Akouo, only for a green laser to intercept and turn her into a charred, unconscious b-word.

"Dang," the red clad girl said as Penny dropped down.

"No one hurts my friends," she coldly exclaimed, making her smile.

Aeren tossed a vial of fire dust which quickly evaporated the ice around everyone. Unfortunately, it let Yang's fist hit Jaune's face. He let out a yelp as blood started trickling from his broken nose.

"Ooh," his girlfriend cringed as the blonde aggressor raised her fist again, but Penny sent a small swarm of swords to pin her against a pillar, saving Jaune.

They heard the screech of tires and looked up to see Ozpin and Benedict step out of a car, followed by Ms. Goodwitch and General Ironwood, all of which were gaping in shock.

"You have no idea what kind of trouble you are in," Ozpin spoke after recomposing himself.

* * *

Ruby POV

It was the next day when I found myself being escorted along with Team WBY and JNPR up to Ozpin's office by Ms. Goodwitch and Mr. Smith. I was squirming next to Jaune and Yang, both of them staying away from each other since my mentor was there. When we finally entered the headmaster's office, we were greeted by the sight of him with none other than my step-dad, Jian Xiao Long.

"Ruby!" he cried out in relief and ran over to me.

I got in a huge bear hug by him and wheezed out loud. My step-dad was a tall, thin man, kinda like Uncle Qrow, but he was more muscular. His blonde hair was shaved to a small amount and his facial features were just like Yang's, exotic.

"Hi dad," I greeted and he was on the verge of tears.

"Where were you?" he asked and I gestured over at Mr. Smith.

"I almost got murdered, but Mr. Smith saved me."

"Mr. Smith?" he asked and his eyes finally landed on Benedict. "Ben?"

"Hey Jian," he greeted and raised his arm, asking for a handshake.

And shake hands they did, then a bro hug, and then they started talking, and talking, and talking.

"I thought you were dead!"

"Yeah, I get that a lot, so does Ruby," he said and gestured at me.

"Wow, still like your old self, huh?" he asked and my mentor shook his head.

"No, not arrogant anymore, just humble and baritone," he laughed and looked over at Ozpin. "Now then, I believe it is time we prepare a perfect punishment for all those involved in the attempted murder of Ruby Rose."

Ms. Goodwitch pulled out a vial of bluish green dust and dumped the whole thing into the air above us. It sprinkled around I suddenly felt like talking about everything, and I mean everything.

"That's tingly," Yang said and Blake nudged her.

"You will tell us every name of every conspirator that aided in Ruby Rose's attempted murder, is that understood?" Ozpin spoke and Pyrrha and Weiss' heads nodded, their eyes full of fear.

"Oh, truth dust," I murmured, finally understanding what was going on as they started spouting out names.

"Ms. Goodwitch, please gather the said students into the auditorium, I have a special announcement for them," the professor ordered and the blonde witch walked out of the office, leaving us with two traitorous backstabbers. "Ms. Schnee, Ms. Nikos, both your families will be informed of these events and now you shall go attend the coming announcement in the auditorium."

They gulped and walked out, leaving just us in there.

"Ahem," I heard my dad cough and I looked at him.

His eyes were looking down at something next to me so I looked down to where he was looking at to see my hand with Jaune's.

"Oh, uh..." I trailed off, showing my grit teeth as I tried to come up with something.

"You got a boyfriend, well that's good, when were you going to tell me!" he shouted with wide eyes while Yang did the same.

Both blonde heads were in my face as I tried to back up and I heard everyone snickering.

"You ain't an exception, Lady Killer," Yang stated as my boyfriend tried to get out of the office, only to be thrown in one of the chairs in front of Ozpin's desk while I got put in another one. "Alright, time to give us some juicy details."

We were blushing as red as my cloak and our eyes were probably as wide as dinner plates.

"Well, um..." I trailed off as Benedict started snickering.

"Sorry, sorry," he apologized and placed both his hands on our shoulders, "it's just the little kiddies started this on Christmas day."

"You didn't tell me!" Yang screeched at Jaune who shrunk in his chair.

"I, uh... I, uh," he repeated over and over again in fear.

"Yang, dad, leave him alone," I whined and they backed off.

Suddenly, Ozpin's scroll beeped and he opened it up to show Ms. Goodwitch's usual stoic face.

"The students are assembled, Professor," she reported and he nodded.

"I will be down shortly, make sure none leave," he responded and closed the communication device, getting up as he did. "The holo-viewer will show you what happens."

He left the office and I reached over to turn it on. It blinked to life and we saw the auditorium packed full of most of the first years.

"Ooh, everyone's in trouble," I said and Yang laughed with me.

People were bustling about, going around, talking to each other, no sure why there were there. Eventually, I saw Ozpin walk onto stage, holding a cup of coffee with Ms. Goodwitch behind him, crop in her hand just in case.

"I am sure you are all wondering why you are here," the headmaster stated and people nodded, murmured. "Well allow yourself to take a look at your fellow peers, your friends and allies, teammates or enemies, and fellow conspirators in the murder of Ruby Rose."

Instantly, everyone's eyes widened in realization as he narrowed his eyes.

"Now I don't suppose I must speak about the severe damage you have done to your personal record, but fortunately, it is linked to the punishment. So let's begin, shall we?" People watched in fear while we were snickering so much. "I shall have you all know that I have taken a vow to never be cruel nor cowardly, that being said, your punishment shall be..."

He trailed off, smirking as the crowd of my attempted murderers stared in fear. We were shaking our fists, eyes wide as we waited in anticipation.

"You all shall be held back two years," he stated and immediately, the whole auditorium was shouting and screaming at the headmaster.

People were throwing things that Ms. Goodwitch easily caught and sent flying back at them. Some were crying or cursing while others were downright peeing themselves because they were probably thinking of what their parents were going to say.

"All of you attempted to murder an innocent girl, an exceptional and prestigious newcomer to Beacon who came to this academy two years ahead of her peers. You attempted to play God and for that you shall be forced to be held back while she graduates two years ahead of all of you," he coldly responded to their complaints and whining. "Also, I cannot say for what harm the other academy students will do to you."

He left with the other teacher and the doors opened, revealing a bunch of pissed off students. Let's just say Yang had actually planned ahead and we were eating from a couple bags of the corn of pop aka popcorn. After Ozpin headed back to his office, he started talking to me about coming back to Beacon.

"With the training that you have received from Benedict here, I believe you should do fine in the classes, of course you won't have the same amount of knowledge as everyone else, varying from higher or below, I believe you will adapt nicely to the second semester," he explained and I nodded with a wide smile. "You will be escorted by either your teammates or a staff member as those responsible will most likely attempt another murder."

"I understand sir," I replied and he smiled with a nod.

"Also, Weiss Schnee and Pyrrha have been pulled from both your team and Mr. Arc's," he explained further and handed me his scroll, showing a couple of different poeple.

"Those students will be coming to Beacon soon, they were unable to join the first years of this year since we received an overflow of newcomers. However, with recent events a select few have been able to come to Beacon and out of those few you shall choose two students, one for your team, Ms. Rose and one for yours, Mr. Arc."

We nodded, all giddy at the idea of choosing new teammates.

"You have until they arrive in several weeks to choose two out of those few. In the meantime, please help Ms. Rose reacquaint herself with Beacon and also tell Ms. Redruick that she is being replaced."

"Redruick?" I asked and Jaune turned red with embarrassment and was that fear I saw in his eyes? "Jaune, are you forgetting to tell me something?"

"Oh, well I never told you about Roxanne," he said, rubbing the back of his head and I heard Yang growl.

"We got a new team leader called Roxanne and she's been trying to get it on with your man," she explained and I turned beet red with anger.

"I see you are angry, Ruby, but I would not advise you spray the walls of your dorm with blood," Ozpin stated and I grumbled some words about being able to beat her butt, but he proved me wrong, "that is reserved for the training room. Please settle the power struggle for leadership with a competition please."

I smile wickedly wide and everyone seemed to pale to my skin color around me.

"What?" I asked and everyone shook their head.

* * *

**Done**

**Ruby has returned!**

**Yang and co are going to hardcore prank Weiss, Pyrrha, CRDL, and other people for trying to kill her**

**Sorry for all you folks wanting them dead**

**They won't die**

**Dobby never meant to kill. Dobby only meant to maim or seriously injure.**

**So Weiss and Pyrrha got kicked from RWBY and JNPR**

**Roxanne's going to get her butt handed to her**

**New characters coming in for Team R_BY and JN_R**

**So this is the exciting part**

**OC TIME!**

**Send me an OC for the teams**

**Must start with a W for RWBY and P for JNPR**

**Now here's the OC Character Sheet**

**Name:**

**Nickname:**

**Age:**

**Gender:**

**Sexual Orientation:**

**Race:**

**History:**

**Personality:**

**Appearance:**

**Clothes:**

**Weapon:  
Weapon Name:  
**

**Strengths:**

**Weaknesses:**

**Likes:**

**Dislikes:**

**Semblance:**

**Other:**

**Now that you have that**

**Start brainstorming for me!**

**So, without further ado**

**I bid you farewell**

**Remember to Review, Favorite, and Follow**

**Sincerely,  
Lord Revan Flame**


	18. My Friend's Birthday Present and Filler

**Hey guys**

**Lord Revan Flame here**

**So the OCs**

**Yeah**

**That stuff**

**I'm close to deciding the W in RWBY**

**However, there seems to be a significant lack of P in JNPR**

**Only a couple in those**

**I'd like that filled in to folks**

**Also**

**It's my friends birthday!  
**

**So this is a one-shot about his team dedicated to him**

**You should know him as Nate from Team KCLD**

**You remember, Kaylen Sivad**

**All those people on that team**

**They exist in real life**

**Kaylen's Larkin's real girlfriend who is way to nice to hurt anything and anyone**

**Colin is my best friend**

**Larkin is a son of a Grimm because he's a jacka$$**

**Dante is actually named Nate and he's the birthday boy, so here you go!**

* * *

Third Person POV

"And there we were, surrounded by Grimm," Kaylen stated and everyone's eyes widened.

"And I socked them all in the face!" Larkin shouted, but was smacked over the head by Dante.

"No you didn't, you got knocked out halfway through the battle by a Nevermore!" he shot back and looked at Teams RBY and JNR, "but I stayed up and fight!"

"Then fell over exhausted at the end of it," Colin spoke and he slouched, putting a pout on his face.

"You're never fun," the assassin grumbled, crossing his arms in anger while everyone laughed.

"Perhaps a story of your graduation," Benedict suggested, out stretching his open hand as if he was offering the idea in physical form.

They looked at each other and Team KCLD began discussing it. With a final hushed agreement, they nodded before turning to nod at the classroom's occupants.

***Flashback***

It was several years ago when Team KCLD were on their graduation trial. They were back in the Emerald Forest, now fighting through a horde of Grimm to rescue a group of dummies that were suppose to be survivors of an airship crash.

"Flank left!" Kaylen shouted and Colin ran forward, clapping his gauntlets together.

They locked and formed his cannon, allowing him to blast a large section of the horde apart. As he drew their attention to their left flank, Nate and Larkin charged into their right flank. The horde of Beowolves, Boarbatusks, and Ursi were being decimated by the team of humans.

"The crash site's guarded!" Nate shouted as he shot forward with his air powered sword, slicing through a row of Beowolves.

The team leader, Kaylen eyed a large black mass watching from afar. It was covered in black fur, the occasional white color of a bone plate appearing on its back and one large piece on its head.

"Nemean Lion," she whispered, recognizing one of the strongest Grimm species.

It gave a loud roar at hearing its name called, even though she spoke in a hushed tone. It leaped through the air, crossing the horde in seconds as it went for her. Before its clawed paw could slice through her throat, two short swords, curved and made for carving sliced into its side and pulled it down using chains.

"Stay away from her!" Larkin roared and swung it around before slamming its body into a tree.

It whined as he yanked the swords out of its body, turning them into dual heavy pistols. He fired a volley of rounds into its black mane, killing it. A Beowolf pounced on his back and threw him onto the ground, a long gash on his back, through his shirt. He yelled in pain, but an arc of lightning from Colin's gauntlets quickly cooked the Beowolf into a burnt, black Grimm.

Kaylen ran over to her lover, healing him with her semblance as their two other teammates covered them. In time they had carved a path to the airship, finding the dummies.

"Plan?" Nate asked as he transformed his air powered sword into a large pistol, blasting off the heads of several Ursi.

"Extraction's out of the option right now, area's to hot," Colin stated as he took a quick survey. "Maybe we can hold out until their numbers our thinned.

"Good plan," Larkin stated as he got up, rubbing his back, "hey Nate, let's do Air Warrior."

"Oh yeah," his partner smiled as they got ready.

Larkin readied his semblance, enhancement of his muscles with aura giving him the power of twenty Ursi. He grabbed Nate and threw him into the air, high above. The assassin drew his air powered sword, aiming for the center of the horde. He activated his semblance, speed enhancement and shot down with a wave of his arms.

The pure force of his attack combined with his sword's ability to utilize air in giving it momentum allowed him to create one hell of an explosion. The Grimm were thrown around, tossed like ragdolls everywhere before he got up, his team running towards his side.

"Let's move," he said and they charged.

***Flashback End***

"Cool!" Ruby shouted and they smiled.

"Not as cool as my graduation," Benedict gloated and Kaylen shot him a glare.

"Oh yeah, what happened on yours? Hm?"

Everyone stared at the recently reinstated huntsman who prepared to tell his own tale.

"We blew up a mountain to stop a mass of Grimm on them. It is a fond memory, a fun one because my partner, her semblance was Aura Projection."

"Aura Projection?" Yang asked and he nodded.

"She could swing her sword and release her aura like it was the air that would come from it. It was helpful in attacking far off enemies," he explained before continuing with his story. "She cleaved off a large section of a cliff and I used my semblance, Aura Repulse to blow us a clearing within the avalanche while Ozpin and Naomi held off the Grimm as we executed our plan."

Everyone blinked, staring at him as he explained the story. He blew up part of a mountain and caused an avalanche that he survived with his team.

"Dude, can you be my mentor?" Yang asked and Ruby elbowed her. "What?"

"Hey, he's mine," she whined and Benedict laughed.

"I am no one's property. I am a living being, just like men and Faunas," he replied, glancing at Blake.

"Hey Ruby?" Jaune asked as he looked at his Scroll. "Aren't you going to go fight Roxanne?"

"Oh yeah!" she yelled in jumped up, standing on the desk. "She's going to go down!"

"Or up if you shove Crescent Rose up her-" Yang was cut off when Blake covered her mouth.

"Yang, behave," Blake scolded and the blonde pouted as she removed her hand.

"Come on team! Time to go find that fool who thinks she is the leader of Team RWBY!" the red clad huntress in training shouted with confidence.

* * *

**There you go**

**Filler**

**and **

**Kinda not filler**

**So next chapter**

**Ruby beats the crap out of Roxanne**

**Get's to beat up Weiss and Pyrrha a lot**

**Yang and co beat up everyone**

**and maybe I'll show Benedict's secret soon**

**Yes, Ben's got a secret**

**And now**

**With out futher ado**

**With much love from me, the author**

**Read the rewrite**

**See ya,  
Lord Revan Flame**


	19. Leadership Competition

**Hello viewers**

**Over 100 Reviews and Follows!**

**This has happened only once!**

**Now twice!**

**I thank all of you!**

**So I have my OCs now**

**To all you people out there**

**The OC for W in RWBY has been chosen**

**The OC for P in JNPR, well I decided to make my own character for that**

**Why you ask?**

**Well I've been looking up a lot of things and I have created a perfect OC to fit that spot in my story**

**So, I'm sorry to you all who wanted a P OC, but the OC intake is over**

**Anyways, in this chapter we witness Ruby shoving Crescent Rose up Roxanne's butt**

**Now onto the chapter!**

* * *

Ruby POV

"Ah ha ha ha!" I laughed loudly as Roxanne swung at me.

It was a couple hours ago when I stormed into my old dorm and requested a duel with her. She was so red faced when I showed up and tried insulting me, but I learned how to take it. It was like when Yang told me to grow up and I told her I drink milk, I am a grown up!

She swung her flail, but missed again. Growling, she swung it around before thrusting it out to her side, the pole elongating as the chain straightened and slid into the pole before the spike ball spun and opened up to reveal a dust crystal inside.

"Take this!" she shouted and shot the staff forward, firing a lightning bolt at me.

I quickly dodged and held Crescent Rose at the ready. Jaune and everyone were cheering for me while I saw a lot of other people quietly booing since they knew Yang would walk over and beat them up like when I found Jaune bloody and bruising in his room after Yang paid a visit, I wasn't very happy with her after that.

I shot my sweetheart and in an instant I had Crescent Rose down on her weapon. I shot again and the blade hooked onto the staff, pulling it from her hands. She was really angry now, she raised her hands as I ran around before punching the ground, making the metal floor crumple up. I was thrown off, rolling across the ground as little beowolves ran around in a circle above me.

"Not so tough now, are you brat?" she gloated and I grit my teeth.

I jumped right back up and readied Crescent Rose, this girl wasn't going to walk straight for a while. Roxanne grabbed her staff and turned it back into a flail the moment I got up so I looked at her, narrowing my eyes. I got in a ready position before shooting forward with my semblance, leaving roses billowing behind me as I ran up a wall. I went so fast that I eventually was right on top of her, standing on the ceiling. I dropped as she looked around, searching for me in the cloud of roses I made around her.

"Where are you!" she screamed as I landed behind her.

She tensed up when she felt Crescent Rose's barrel up against her butt, pushing her up into the air on it like she was sitting on it. **(Did you think I didn't mean this?)**

"Here," I answered and fired.

I didn't really need to tell anyone that people had to cover Jaune's and Ren's eyes when Roxanne landed back down, her shorts all turned to ashes and her panties were black with soot.

"I win," I chirped and everyone cheered, well everyone on my side.

I turned to walk away when I heard crackling and looked back to see Roxanne struggling to point her staff at me. Right as she shot the lightning, it redirected into the arm of Ozpin who absorbed it thanks to his semblance.

"Whoa," I said and people watched him approach us.

"Ruby Rose, you have rightfully defeated Roxanne Redruick and in doing so reclaim your title, and burden, as leader of Team RWBY or perhaps a team by another name," he spoke and I smiled widely at him.

"Thank you, sir," I thanked and he nodded with his own smile.

"Back to your activities!" the headmaster shouted/ordered and everyone filed out while my friends crowded around me.

"That was awesome!" my older sis shouted in joy as I got crushed in a bear hug.

"Yaaaang," I whined and she laughed.

"Uh, nice job, Ruby," Jaune complimented and I blushed at his praise.

* * *

"Mm, what about her!" I shouted, pointing at a picture of a girl.

Jaune and I were sitting in _my _dorm with our teams picking out new teammates. We haven't really chosen anyone, just skimmed the list a bit.

"Whisper Vocem, Wake Yukihira, Dylan Garruk, Feya Wynters, Zackary Michael Azurem, Terrier Wellson, Willow Nathans, Psytraz Soria, Preston Darksingr, Palbo Lopez, Perinone Burnt..." Blake trailed off while reading the list. "A lot of people didn't get into Beacon, a lot of them were Faunas."

"It's not because the academy's racist," Ren assured and she sighed in relief. "I a lot of people despise letting Faunas into Beacon, they think it taints this place."

"Those jerks," I huffed in anger and I crossed my arms.

"Hey, what about her," Yang asked and showed me a picture of a girl with black hair.

Her hair was long and raven black, going down to the small of her back while she had bangs covering her right eye and two short locks of her black hair were on either side of her face. At the end her hair curled a bit, it was cute. Her visible eye was crimson while her other eye, I think it was just like her hair, raven black.

We minimized the screen, showing a 3D figure of her. She was, I think 5 feet and a half, I think. She wore some kind of robe, it showed off her body and I'm sure Jaune was blushing after a bit, but I looked closely and saw a kinda bulge on her back along with a hood.

"Hm... Wave Starlight, that's an awesome name," I said and looked at her some more.

She had five pole/bar things on a belt around her waist, each one looked like they could connect to each other.

"Hm..." I trailed off again, "I like her."

"So now I need to pick a teammat-"

Jaune was cut off as the door was slammed open, Nora popping in.

"Guys!" she shouted and we all jumped in surprise. "You gotta see this!"

We looked at each other before running out of the dorm to see Benedict standing with the other teachers. He was holding his sword upside down, both hands on the pummel of it as they gazed at a stretcher with a girl on it.

"What's going on?" I asked and they looked at us.

"Her," Glynda spoke as she gestured at the wounded girl.

"They found her living in the forests in forests in the north of Vacuo, she was alone in the wild with her weapons and no memories of where she came from," Benedict explained as they carried her to the nurse's office. "She put up a fight against the people who found her, they said she was a skilled fighter, but was untrained. Ozpin was the first to ask to speak to her."

"So she's going to study at Beacon?" Yang asked and my mentor shrugged.

"I would say she'd make a fine student!" Prof. Port laughed as Glynda sighed and placed her hand on her face.

"Enough, Peter," Glynda groaned as she moved to find the infirmary, "she's still injured and incapable of fighting."

I looked at everyone and they shrugged before following her. We had a knack for doing stuff like this, fighting crime, hunting Grimm, and now looking for a injured girl. We found her in the infirmary, holding her head and looking around with confusion.

"Where am I?" she asked in a soft voice, eyes wide and hand holding a red gash on her head.

She had short, fiery orange hair, all of it wild and shooting out in spikes or loosely hanging. Her eyes were pearl white and her skin was tan. She wore torn up clothes underneath armor made of leather.

"Uh, Beacon?" I answered cautiously and she noticed us.

"Who are you?" she asked as she curled up, holding her knees to her chest in fear.

"Oh, um... I'm Ruby Rose," I said, hesitating when I saw her look at us with worry. "Um, we aren't going to hurt you."

"Okay," she said, sighing in relief.

"Ms..." Ozpin trailed off the moment he began to speak when he entered the room. "Do you have a name?"

"Name?" she asked, tilting her head. "N-no."

"What's this?" he asked, delicately grabbing her arm.

She let him and she watched him observe a some numbers and letters.

"C... dash 56- no 55... 76 dash two numbers," he read off, carefully taking in every part of the code tattooed onto her wrist, barely being able to read the smudged, faint ink. "Do you know what this is?"

"Um, no, I never thought about it," she admitted and he nodded in response.

"Yes, well. Several years ago, battle schools all over Remnant began a program to code their students if they deemed necessary. You may have been one such student," he theorized and allowed the nurse to speak.

"Well, seeing as you can speak English, you most likely gained amnesia at some point in your life," the nurse analyzed and we all just sat there, trying to comprehend those words.

"So she doesn't remember anything?" I asked and the headmaster nodded.

"Indeed, Ruby. Now, may I extend a generous hand?" he asked the girl and she nodded hesitantly. "Well, we may be able to decode the code on your arm and decipher your identity, however, we may not do so if you leave."

"You want me to stay?" she asked and he nodded.

She thought on that and while she did we stepped outside.

"She's cute," Yang said, eyeing her from the window of the door to the infirmary.

"Yang," Blake scolded and she sighed while rolling her eyes.

"She is special," Ozpin stated, contemplating on what had happened. "Someone call Prof. Oobleck, have him bring me my Scroll."

Nora and Ren nodded and ran off to find the professor. Eventually they came back with the green haired man appeared with the professor's Scroll, Ren and Nora trying to catch up to him, but both fell over, exhausted. Entering the infirmary once more, our headmaster scanned the code.

"We will try and decipher this, but in the meantime my Scroll has already identified your name," he explained and gave her the Scroll.

"Pandora," she read, looking up at us. "My name is Pandora?"

"It would appear so," he said and turned to look at us. "Now, may I ask why you are all interested in Ms. Pandora?"

"What?" we all asked and he tilted his head back with a 'really?' expression on his face.

"Well, since the obvious is not apparent. I believe Ms. Pandora will make an excellent addition to Team JNPR," he stated and Jaune's eyes went wide.

"Uh, she's with us?" he asked and he nodded while Pandora watched curiously.

"Seeing as her skills in defeating a skilled huntsman before two more subdued her, I believe she will be an excellent huntress in the future, if she chooses."

We all looked at her and she took another minute to decide. When she did, she just nodded with a confident look.

"You helped me, I want to help you," she proudly remarked and we all smiled.

"Welcome to Beacon, Pandora," I greeted and she smiled.

* * *

Third Person POV

"How many more pieces?" Cinder demanded to know as she called her associates.

She sat in her dorm room with Emerald and Mercury, all three of them having snuck into the most prestigious academy in all of Vytal.

"Only four remain, Ozpin's, Naomi's, and the last two in Benedict's care," Deadlock answered and Torchwick scoffed.

"How're we suppose to get any of those?" he asked and Cinder scowled at him.

"That is none of your concern, Roman. You're concern is finding the Bone Crown."

"I know, I know, and I did find it, but some hunter was guarding it. We took the idiot out, but they took the artifact with 'em," he groaned and Cinder growled in anger.

"You fool! We need the artifact! We need all three!"

"Y-yes, I kn-know," he stuttered before recomposing himself, straightening his suit. "You got Alpha and his animal friends searching for the Grimm Soul."

"Indeed I do, we'll find the Black Chalice pieces, but in order or you to gain your power and wealth, you must first deliver the Bone Crown."

"I will," he stated and left the call, leaving Deadlock to watch her fume.

"Such organic anger, raw and undeterminable, yet so overwhelming, a weakness and a strength," he ranted before putting on his visor. "Remember to control your rage, girl. Your former team still matches your strength."

He left the call, leaving Cinder to contemplate. Emerald and Mercury looked at each other, silently agreeing on not bothering the sorceress.

* * *

**Done**

**Okay, not one of my better chapters**

**To me at least**

**So those are the OCs**

**Thanks FateOblivion**

**Also, if you want to know how I came up with the new P in JNPR**

**Well then, if you know what this is**

**CC-5576-39**

**Then that is what I'm aiming for**

**So**

**Without further ado**

**I ask you**

**Review, Favorite, and Follow**

**Lord Revan Flame, signing off**


	20. Welcome Wave

**Hello again my viewers**

**We are back to the story!**

**So, here we introduce the OC to the story**

**To be perfectly honest with you all**

**For a tiny bit of time I felt a sort of writer's block to this**

**Now however, I have that jig back and blah blah blah**

**To the story!**

**Wait**

**Also, I've been working with a new writing style so now**

**I'm using it**

**So without further ado**

**I bid you goodbye till the end of the chapter**

* * *

"You see her?" Yang asked as she put a hand over her eyes, blocking the sunlight from them.

She and Ruby had been sitting on the massive pillars that decorated Beacon's courtyard, eyeing the students coming in. To their extent, they had yet to spot their newest recruit amongst the crowd of newcomers and were losing hope until a voice spoke out.

"Excuse me?" Blake spoke up and they turned around to see the hidden cat faunas there. "Are you looking for Wave Starlight?"

"Uh, yeah," Ruby replied and her teammate pointed at the ship where a girl in robes hid in the shadow of it, shy and reclusive in the crowd. "Ooh, let's go meet her!"

"Ruby, wai-" Blake didn't finish as her partner and team leader shot off towards the poor raven haired girl. "Why do I even bother?"

Nearby, Jaune and his team continued training exercises with their newest member, simply known as Pandora.

"Come on, shoot better!" Nora shouted and the fiery red head laid down a poor barrage of dust shots at the ginger who easily blocked or dodged with Magnhild.

"She's not properly trained like us, Nora. This is a completely new environment for her," Ren explained and she stuck her tongue out.

Unfortunately for her, Pandora saw this as an opening and shot. The dust shots hit the ginger in the legs and she dropped, clutching them as she felt the stun dust in the projectiles numb her legs.

"Ah," she moaned and Jaune snickered while Ren sighed in frustration.

"Did I do good?" Pandora questioned and Jaune nodded with a smile.

"Guys!"

They all turned to see Ruby push in a red faced girl with raven black hair, dressed in a large robe that clung to her body.

"Meet our new teammate... uh, sorry I forgot your name," Ruby confessed and she whispered it. "What?"

"W-wave Starlight," she spoke louder and everyone smiled.

"Well, hi," Jaune greeted, putting on his not so signature grin.

"H-hello," she said, shrinking away from them.

"Are you okay?

She kept her temples leveled with her shoulders as she nervously squirmed.

"Y-yeah, I'm just... I'm really nervous," she confessed and Yang draped an arm around their new teammate, causing her to jump in surprise.

"Shush my dear friend, you're our new friend and we're in this together," the blonde sated with an outstretched hand.

Blake elbowed her side and the brawler burst into laughter while Wave remained red faced and still nervous.

"Isn't she supposed to be attending a Welcoming Ceremony?" Blake asked and everyone's minds clicked.

"Come on!" Ruby shouted and grabbed her new teammate's wrist as she zoomed off.

The rest of Team RWBY followed and Team JNPR just stared with confusion before going back to their training session.

* * *

Days passed by and Wave, along with the rest of the new students had completed their trial through the Emerald Forest. It seemed the Grimm infested forest was favorable to Professor Ozpin. The trial of the new arrivals was to defeat a certain type of Grimm, hunting them down so they may slay them. It was unknown how, but Wave had completed her trial first, quickly and efficiently.

To say Ruby and her sister were excited to have the newcomer as their teammate was an understatement, they were most definitely beyond excited. For the next several days they helped their shy teammate grow accustomed to life at Beacon and life with a team. Progress was slow, but Wave was slowly opening up to them.

The long awaited dance came by to them and the event was planned personally by the ever mighty partier, Ms. Xiao Long. The entire school showed up, of course they would have either way. Most of the school spent its time on the other side of the dance floor, glaring at the 15-year-old that danced with her boyfriend on the other side with her supporters. Ever since Ruby Rose's return, the entire academy had been divided between Ruby's supporters and her... well, simply put would be murderers.

There were those who did not attend Beacon who attended the dance, including General Ironwood and Team RWBY's strange friend, Penny. It was several days after returning to Beacon that Ruby found herself thrown on the ground, pushed out of the way of an oncoming truck by her ginger haired friend. Single-handily stopping the truck, Penny fled from the scene and Ruby eventually found her, learning she was not in fact human, but a "Synthetic Person capable of generating Aura".

After that, Penny had returned to the service of General Ironwood who had been very angered about her disappearance for sometime. She had apparently used a cover as training at a hunter's academy for Ruby and walking around Vale for sometime with Ironwood. Now, however, she was back in public, flanked by two guards, one red and the other blue.

After a while she started doing a little dance and after another while, Ruby joined in. Jaune could only smile and laugh as the two girls did a little jig. There were many more highlights to the dance such as Team JNPR's synchronized dancing scene they put up and the hilarious attempts of Sun trying to gain Blake's attention in a romantic view.

Suddenly, a loud explosion rang out and thankfully, only those outside of the ballroom could hear it. Fortunately, only Ruby and Jaune had been outside, doing a little personal moment. However, when they heard the loud boom and saw the side of the top of the CCT explode, they knew something was up.

When they entered the main room, they found the General himself arguing with Ruby's own mentor, Benedict.

"You think I did this?" the reinstated huntsman demanded to know, jabbing a finger into Ironwood's suit.

"I see no other culprit," retorted the headmaster and they narrowed their eyes.

"Uh..." Ruby tried to cut in, but they ignored her.

"You know, Smiethrun," Ironwood sneered and put his own finger against Benedict's chest. "I always knew you were trouble. First, it was the Naomi girl, then the forest fight, and now this!"

Benedict looked ready to kill, his gentle giant personality had been replaced with that of a battle eager one. Already, the armor of his left gauntlet began transforming into a shield, powered by his fluctuating aura that flared with his emotion of rage. Ruby quickly moved and grabbed his hand, making him look down in surprise at her.

"What the-" Ironwood was cut off as Benedict jabbed his finger at his chest, continuing their little battle.

"I may have caused all of that, _James_," Benedict spat and moved to leave, "but don't forget everything you've done."

He walked away, he simply walked away and kept his anger bottled up, ready to let it out in training the next day. Ruby smiled, proud that he was able to hold it together, but what came next shook her to the core.

"Well what about your wife!" General James Ironwood shouted and Benedict froze. Jaune was looking like he was ready to wet himself now and Ruby was close to the same state as she saw the handle of Benedict's sword appear at the bottom of his collapsed shield. "What was her name again?"

Ruby looked up at her mentor expecting to see him ready to kill or to at least maim the general, but instead she saw... fear?

"James," Benedict growled and looked back, "shut up."

Ironwood dangerously stared at him and he returned the gaze, both men at each other's throat.

"What was her name again?"

"General Ironwood," called her mentor through grit teeth. "Please be silent."

Before the general could speak further, the doors to the elevator opened to reveal a man in shades of green and black. Nudging his glasses up, Ozpin stepped into the CCT Tower.

"General Ironwood, Mr. Smiethrun, would you please enlighten me of the situation?" the headmaster asked and the Atlasian general was the first to answer.

"I discovered one of my men downed at the entrance to the CCT Tower and investigated to find one of _your_ huntsman here, weapons out and facing no one."

He turned to Benedict who answered next.

"I decided to get some air and noticed a figure running on the rooftops. I suspected her of the unconscious guards all over the tower and found her here. We fought, but Mr. Ironwood interrupted the battle allowing her to flee."

"So it is my fault?"

"No, it's my fault for being distracted by you," Benedict spoke, but the anger that was laced in his voice was obvious.

The two students had backed up near the elevators just in case a fight broke out while Ozpin stood still, a wall between the two huntsmen, one reinstated the other a military leader.

"Ben, I think you should get some air," Ozpin's tone of voice making it more of a command than a suggestion.

With that, the reinstated hunter left, standing in between his student and his student's boyfriend, not acknowledging his position.

* * *

"They were here!"

Ironwood's fist slammed on the glass table, not breaking the very resilient material. Ozpin kept his eyes narrowed at all three occupants of his office, Benedict, Glynda, and James.

"Clearly," Prof. Goodwitch responded and the general frowned.

"Why were they here though?"

Benedict's question raised all their eyebrows. After the fight Ironwood and Benedict had put together their details and along with the crime scene the reinstated huntsman proved his alibi real. For the rest of the night, the four hunters had been arguing relentlessly, asking for a course of action to take.

"It was something circling around the CCT," Ironwood stated and they all nodded. "I suggest we take control of the entire system, look through every call and lock down the tower."

"No!" Glynda yelled in frustration and anger. "Such an action is invading the privacy of our students which we swore to protect and as usual it is also a show of military bravado!"

"Glynda!" Ozpin shouted and turned his seat around to face the two.

"It is true," she grumbled and Benedict moved to stand by them.

"As reports go, I suggest we look for a base of operations. They couldn't have simply come here from anywhere," he suggested and the general nodded.

"Indeed, I will send convoys, armored of course-"

"James!" Glynda shouted once more and Ozpin sighed.

Seeing his frustrated expression, the huntress bit her tongue before she could spout out anymore words.

"Well, I suppose we might know where to search," Benedict spoke and Ozpin looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.

He tapped a finger against his left gauntlet and the headmaster took the hint.

"Oh yes, please explain," Ozpin asked and he complied with a smile.

"When I faced this intruder she wore a mask and her clothes, it glowed bright orange as if it burned, no doubt that dust was sown into it and her weapons were made of glass, colored ash grey."

All four hunters grimaced, reports of such powers were common, but these specific ones were known only to be similar to a few reports.

"And I do also believe she mentioned a base in the southeast, perhaps she was thinking of relocating there," he suggested, going off of what he had heard from one of Ruby's conversations with Jaune.

The four nodded in agreement and before Ironwood could speak or Glynda could interrupt, Ozpin raised his voice.

"I believe now is the time for not a military display or an attack, but a simple reconnaissance mission."

"You would rather we stand by and watch shadows move?" Ironwood angrily questioned and the silver haired man shook his head.

"No general, I believe that we must stand by and watch the light of the dawn slowly push the shadows back," he stated and looked up at him from his chair. "Answer me this, James. Would you rather send in the flag bearer or the scouts first?"

* * *

Team RWBY was over ecstatic as they stood there, three human and a faunas. It was only earlier that Ruby and Yang had received mail from their father who had gone out of town, leaving them with their pet dog for the time being, comically keeping it rolled up with a full supply of dog food and a can opener in a small cylinder.

Yang and her sister were excited to see their dog again, Wave was shy, but seemed to love the dog, and Blake was... well, cat fauna did not interact well with any form of canines.

"Ooh, here!" Ruby shouted as she found a mission in the Southeast, just outside of Vale where the White Fang base was rumored to be.

After a moment of contemplating, Ruby entered their team name, but was disappointed when a message appeared.

"Mission unavailable to First Year students," Wave read and the sisters sulked.

"Indeed it is," a voice spoke and Ozpin appeared from behind the mission display. "We deemed the concentration of Grimm in the Southeast to be to extreme for First Year students."

They nervously nodded, but he continued on with his little rant.

"You know, the Southeast region seems to be a popular area at the moment. I am very curious as to how you discovered a secret hideout in the Southeast, Ms. Rose," he spoke and she tensed up. "In fact, I have the sneaking suspicion that you will all make your way there no matter what. I am still very suspicious of why you were at the docks last semester as well as below the highway earlier this semester, and witnesses saying they saw rose petals and robots at a dance club sometime ago."

"Uh, well..." Ruby trailed off, but he cut her off.

"I suppose I'll never know, but off that subject. Instead of waiting for you to break the rules, why not bend them?" he inquired and pressed several buttons on his Scroll.

The mission board flickered and a beeping noise was heard before it reset. Ruby eagerly entered their team name and once she was finished, Ozpin began a speech he had planned for this particular set of teens.

"Now, all of you listen closely. This will be unlike your mission near Magnus. There will not be as many Grimm, there will be more. There will be no countless number of hunters ready to step in, there will be only one. Finally, there will only be you and your team, do not take your unity for granted for it is only through your teamwork that you will succeed."

With that said, the headmaster turned and left. The girls looked at each other, unsure of what they felt, optimistic of pessimistic. On their way out they ran into Velvet and her team, the seasoned team of hunters arriving back from a mission. They had a conversation with the rabbit faunas and needless to say, her speech was as much the same as up lifting and spirit downing as Ozpin's.

When they met their huntsman guides, that was even more spirit downing.

"Hello girls!" Prof. Oobleck greeted eagerly, throwing a fist under himself. "Who's ready to face danger!"

"Not me," Prof. Smiethrun grumbled as he slammed his forehead on his hands which lay on the pommel of his sword whose blade tip was set on the ground.

Ruby's eyes were giant circles of blank white, Yang's mouth was down to the ground, Wave was tilting her head in confusion, and Blake's eyes had shrunk to pinpricks.

"This is going to be a long adventure," Ruby murmured as the energetic professor ran circles around them and her previous mentor, literally.

* * *

**Done**

**Sorry about the long wait**

**Did you like this chapter?**

**I didn't really have enough inspiration for this chapter**

**The next one'll be big though**

**So as I have always said**

**Lots of things incoming**

**Now, without further ado**

**My instructions to you my padawan and acolytes**

**Review, Favorite, and Follow**

**Sincerely,  
Lord Revan Flame**


	21. Mountain Glen

**Hello viewers**

**So, I'm back**

**Sorry, major case of Writer's Block and inspiration for other stories**

**Now, anyways**

**I've got the new chapter here**

**And this one, well I'm making it pretty long for you guys**

**So RWBY has revealed a lot more secrets with the recent episodes**

**The canon plot kinda contradicts mine since Ruby and Yang have two moms, but in my story they had two dads and one mom**

**So, this is now entering the domain of AU completely, mostly**

**Anyways, let's get moving, shall we?**

* * *

"See ya in a couple weeks then?" Jaune asked and Ruby smiled, tilting her head in a cute manner.

"Sure, Jaune," she replied and he smiled back before disconnecting the call.

"Yes, yes, good. Kinship between teams is a wonderful tactic in alliances!" Oobleck stated as he swung his arm like a sailor.

"Um, Bartholomew, they're dating," Benedict explained and the green haired professor shrugged.

"Still a wonderful tactic!"

Yang, Wave, and Blake looked on with curiosity at how the professor, er- doctor truly functioned, was he man or something else? Ruby was blushing as red as her cloak, gripping her backpack that Oobleck had told her to leave behind, thankfully, he hadn't noticed it yet.

The trip to the southeast area outside of Vale, known as Mountain Glen, a failed attempt at expansion by the citizens of Vale. The entire construction site was overrun, a large portion of a soon to be built section of the city lost to the clutches of the dark creatures.

The ship soon arrived at one of humanity's greatest failures, landing in an area clear of Grimm.

"Alright, let's-"

"Wait!" Oobleck shouted, cutting off Benedict as he glared at Ruby. "Ruby! I thought I told you to leave all your bags back at school!"

"But, uh... you hadn't told us to listen to you yet. So I didn't."

"She's not wrong," he murmured and Benedict visibly grimaced.

"Very well you can leave here, we'll pick it up upon our return," he ordered, but she held onto the straps of the backpack with a tight grip. "Ruby?"

"Well, sir, er- sirs," she spoke and both teachers looked at her. "I can't really do that."

"Ruby Rose, what could be so important that you can't leave your bag-" Oobleck was cut off as at that very moment, the flap of the backpack opened up and her pet, Zwie stuck his head out.

Yang's eyes widened as her mouth dropped, the same went for Blake as she backed up to stand behind the blonde, and Wave was tilting her head in confusion. Benedict was hunched over, arms hanging from his sides as he stared at his student.

"Get back in the bag," she whispered as she noticeably saw a twitch from behind the doctor's glasses as her dog barked.

"We're here to investigate an abandoned suburban area filled with evil and hostility and you bring... a dog?"

She nervously shook under his gaze, but suddenly he jumped back in joy.

"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!"

Everyone put on confused faces as the doctor ran around, shouting that word and any adjective to it. After a moment, he zoomed past Ruby and grabbed her dog, twirling around with it as he named off historical facts on the canine. Soon he dropped Zwie to begin explaining the details of the mission and the area around them, but suddenly out of context, he uttered one word.

"Grimm."

"What?" Yang asked as they all stared at their professor.

"A creature of Grimm, approximately 100 yards from us at this very moment," Oobleck stated and everyone jumped to action as they noticed the Beowolf meandering at the far end of the street.

Their weapons unfolded or shot out as they prepared for battle, but the doctor halted their hostility.

"Stop!" he stated loudly and they paused to oblige. "There is a number of reasons why Grimm would congregate in this area, one of them being their attraction to negativity. Sadness, envy, loneliness, hatred, all qualities that are likely harbored by our small group harboring ill intent."

"So what? We wait?" Ruby asked and he nodded to answer.

"We wait, we track, if that specimen leads us to its pack, its pack may subsequently lead us to its prey."

"How long would that take?" Yang questioned, a bored expression on her face and he brought a finger up to his chin in thought.

"It's uncertain, hours, days weeks. Why lone Grimm have been known for being isolated from their whole pack for months- and there's the whole pack!"

"What?" Wave spoke in surprise, tilting her head in shock.

"And now they've seen us."

"What!" she squeaked loudly and he was suddenly on her shoulder.

"And now they've seen us!" he shouted in her ear, causing her to yelp and fall on the ground.

"Uh..." Benedict trailed off and looked up with his students at the approaching pack. "I say you show us what you got, your input Oobleck?"

The green haired doctor looked at the four girls and nodded.

"Show me what you are capable of," he ordered and they sprung to action.

Yang blasted apart Grimm, making it more of a massacre than a battle. Blake easily sliced through her opponents with Gambol Shroud, shooting them with its gun form as well. Wave was a bit of a blur, fluidly moving around, dodging attacks and slicing with her knife-like weapons. Then there was Ruby, a red blur that sliced and obliterated the Beowolves that charged at her, using her training to impress the huntsmen.

"Pft, show off," Yang remarked and Ruby stuck her tongue out at her sister as they walked back to the teachers.

"Good, very good," Oobleck stated and walked over to the corpses. "Now let us continue on our path!"

They began marching down the streets, defeating Grimm where ever they appeared. Slicing and slashing through packs of Beowolves as they went along, even Benedict joined in the slaughter after a while.

"Uh, Doctor Oobleck?" Yang called and his ears perked up. "I kinda wanted to know what it was like to work with a huntsman, you know, see one in action?"

"Oh, but I am in action, Yang!" he proudly proclaimed and bent down to examine some plants.

Throughout the day they explored buildings, streets, and open areas, investigated shops, apartments, and other places. The members of Team RWBY, save for their leader found themselves questioned on their reasons for going to Beacon.

"I'm a thrill seeker," was Yang's answer.

"There's to much injustice in the world to not do anything," was how Blake replied.

"I want to make a difference," spoke Wave and Oobleck nodded, a questioning expression on his face as he gazed over the naive girl.

After sometime they finally halted on their expedition and found a building to camp in.

"Alright, Yang, Blake, Wave, set up camp here. Your leader, Benedict, and I will be securing the perimeter," Oobleck explained and ordered so the three nodded before heading in.

The red cloaked girl followed behind the huntsmen, Zwie following her as she did. They circled around the building and then spread out further until coming to a stop at the edge of a street. Stretching far out towards the mountains beyond was a forest, one filled with massive Grimm.

"Whoa," Ruby gasped in shock as she lay witness to behemoth sized Grimm. "What are they?"

"Grimm," Oobleck answered as they watched the elephant-like creatures stomp across the ground, heading in a line.

One turned its head, rearing towards them to glare before following its kind once more.

"Their called Goliaths," her old mentor stated, crossing his armored arms. "From what I can tell, they're ancient, most likely older than both Oobleck and I."

Ruby processed all that while continuing her long gaze on them, marveling at how 'awesome' they were. After a while, she pulled out her 'sweetheart' and cocked it.

"Let's kill 'em."

"Now, now," the doctor spoke and gently lowered her high impact rifle with his hand. "I'm afraid all your weapon will do is annoy them."

"What?"

"He's right, Ruby," Benedict remarked and the two teachers looked forward. "Those Grimm have lived longer than most, a trait rarely seen amongst them."

"Wh-why's that?" Ruby questioned and Oobleck looked at her.

"Well, Ms. Rose. Those Grimm have done something those monsters you have faced have not, they've learned. They've learned that attacking our borders is a futile effort, that killing one of us will only draw more of us."

She mouthed an 'o', turning her head to look at the roaming Goliaths. After sometime, the trio turned and began to walk back to the building the rest had set up camp in.

"Um... Doctor Oobleck?" Ruby spoke up and the call drew his attention.

"Yes, Ruby?"

"I was wondering... well-"

"Why I've been questioning your fellow teammates?"

"Well, no. I was wondering... why'd you become a huntsman?"

They halted, the green haired man stopping in his tracks causing the other two to do the same.

"Tell me, Ruby," Oobleck spoke and turned to her. "What do you see around you?"

"Lots of old buildings, empty streets..."

"I see lives that could have been saved," he finished for her, motioning his arm around. "As a hunstman it is my job to protect the people and although I am capable of doing it with traditional weapon, I believe I can make a much larger impact if I do it with my mind."

They had begun to walk again, moving down the street that was lined with rubble. Ruby was staring up with curious awe at the doctor, inspired at his reasons for becoming a huntsman.

"As a teacher, I am able to take knowledge, the most powerful weapon of all and place it in the hands of every student that passes through my classroom. I look around and I see lives that could have been saved, but I also see an opportunity, an opportunity to shift through these ruins and learn and therefore become stronger."

"I am a huntsmen because there is nothing else in this world that I would rather be."

With that they remained in silence for sometime before they arrived. Immediately, Ruby rushed to the fire with Zwie and began warming herself up. The two huntsmen conversed for a while before questioning who would be on watch.

"Yo!" Ruby yelled and Benedict followed her towards a hole in the building's wall.

As mentor and student gossiped, Doctor Oobleck jumped up onto another story through a roof, leaning against a wall to sleep while the other three members of Team RWBY flopped down on their sleeping bags.

"So how are your studies?" Benedict asked as he looked at his sword, gifted to him by the person he was speaking to.

"Doin' fine," she chirped as they stared out at the city. "So... sir, why were you and General Ironwood arguing?"

He looked at her, then out at the sky beyond. The dark hue of the blue sky gave a sort of calming emotion towards the both of them.

Benedict looked down with a bit of shame, murmuring to her his answer, "As you know, the general is a soldier and soldiers follow orders. I used to be brash, arrogant, all of those traits that caused my friends so much pain. We argued, we always butted heads, but I believe our relationship is mending itself."

"Oh," was what she replied with, looking at the night sky herself.

Some more time passed, hours ticking by and eventually Ruby spoke up again.

"Um, Mr. Smith?"

"Hm?"

"Why did _you_ become a huntsman?"

"Well, Ruby," he said, being less discreet than usual. "I believe it is time to be honest with you."

"Honest?"

"Yes, honest. Remember when I spoke about my family?" he asked and Ruby nodded, prompting him to continue. "My family, they were anti-faunas. I was raised into that life style, but I grew out of it and because of that change I saw how much injustice there was in the world."

Her eyes were wide, he was a faunas hater once, but now... now he was a good guy. After that, they sat in complete silence save for the panting of Zwie and the crackling of the fire along with the occasional sound of Team RWBY shifting about.

Ruby was having an internal argument as she watched for Grimm outside.

_"What if he doesn't answer me?"_

_"What if he gets offended?"_

_"Oh man it'll be so awkward and weird!"_

Finally making her decision, she made her move.

"Uh Benedict, since you're being honest... what happened to your wife?"

* * *

"Is the plan in motion, Roman?" Cinder questioned and the red head groaned from the other side of the call.

"Of course it is... mostly."

"Mostly?"

"So I haven't found that Bone Crown yet-"

"What!" the raven haired vixen screeched and he cringed.

"But!" he shouted in desperation and she halted her verbal attack. "But, we got everything ready for the invasion!"

She narrowed her eyes on the crime lord before cutting the call.

"Hey boss!"

Roman turned his head towards the door with a scowl.

"Great, more animals," he murmured before walking towards it. "What is it, Perry? I'm having a bad day!"

"Uh, we found something!"

"Well what is it?"

"It's a little girl!" they shouted the moment he popped his head out.

"Well that's bad," he said with a frown.

* * *

Several hours after Ruby had disappeared, her team along with Doctor Oobleck and Benedict Smiethrun discovered her underground in a White Fang hideout. With no way to reach for reinforcements, the six heroes ventured out to stop a train shipment filled with weapons and armaments.

"Grimm!" Benedict yelled over the roar of the train and Oobleck turned his eyes on the holes in the ceiling.

"Oh no," the green haired doctor gasped and ran back to the students with Benedict. "Their leading Grimm to the city!"

"What?" they all shouted in confusion.

"The bombs, they're opening entrances for Grimm to use to find the train and follow it back to Vale," Oobleck explained and their eyes widened in fear. "You three, get down below to stop the train. Benedict, Ruby, and I are going to stop this train!"

"I already said that!" Ruby shouted and Oobleck faltered.

"No time to argue, let's move!" Benedict shouted and they began charge forward.

As Yang, Wave, and Blake did battle in the train below, Ruby, Benedict, and Oobleck battled on the train's roof.

"Robots!" Ruby cried out as a small force of Elysium Paladins began charging towards them.

Oobleck grinned, bringing his staff up to his mouth to take a sip before lighting the top aflame. With a bark, Zwie leaped into the air, having already figured out what the doctor intended when the tip came near his canine body. Ruby watched with awe as her dog was turned into a flaming baseball that obliterated a mech.

"Oh my G-O-S-H!" Ruby gasped in awe and Oobleck grinned.

The greened haired doctor shot forward, swinging his staff and sending a stream of fire that obliterated another with several large blasts of flames that followed that destroyed a third.

"Come on!" Benedict roared as he charged a group of White Fang thugs.

Swinging his blade, he sliced one across the chest before raising his shield to block an attack. He slammed his shield into the faunus' face before stabbing him and sliding the blade out, slashing it across another's chest. His shield came down and the fist underneath bashed a thug in the face, jarring him and causing him to stumble off the train.

Before a White Fang thug could sneak up on him, Ruby had shot forward and knocking him down.

A loud explosion resounded from behind them and they witnessed a massive Grimm fall through a hole in the subway's ceiling.

"A King Manticore," Oobleck murmured with shock and surprise, "and it's a big one!"

Meanwhile, within the train, the three girls out of four of Team RWBY found themselves battling opponents of great skill. Yang fought the cream, brown, and pink colored woman named Neo, finding herself infuriated at how fluently fast her opponent was dodging. Wave was shrieking in terror as she dodged the chainsaw-like blade of the White Fang Lieutenant, fearsome faunus with a grudge against the Schnee family. Finally, there was Blake who combated Roman Torchwick himself, easily defeating him.

It seemed like an unending battle, but Yang found herself defeated, unconscious and lying unprotected. Neo slid out the blade from her umbrella, and prepared to end the blonde's life when the unexpected happened. Wave and Blake ran out of into the car, followed by the chainsaw wielding lieutenant of the White Fang. He swung and Neo nimbly dodged, but cartwheeled into Blake. Kicking her leg up, she hit the small of the petite woman's back.

She gasped in pain and shock as her back arched and Wave grabbed Yang. Together, the two jumped out of the car while Neo rubbed the bruising spot with a frown, the White Fang lieutenant snorting in anger.

When they arrived atop the train car, they found Ruby gaping with Benedict, both of them gazing at the dead end ahead of them.

"End of the line," the coffee brown haired huntsman whispered and Ruby looked up at him.

"What do we do?" Blake asked and they all looked at each other.

"Incoming!"

They all turned to see Oobleck dodge a dust bolt that came flying at the five. They dodged, but Ruby was unlucky enough to roll off the train.

"Ruby!" they all cried out and at that moment, the most unexpected thing occurred.

Wave dived off the train, loosing her robes as she did. Ruby waited to hit the ground at whatever speed the train was going, but two lithe arms wrapped around her waist. She felt the wind rush in her face and she looked to see herself next to the train, but not on it. Looking back she saw a sight that told her everything about Wave's shyness.

There were two raven black... well raven wings on her back!

"You're a... faunus?" she questioned as Wave flew them back onto the train car, making them roll on the roof of it.

"I, I..." she stuttered, but Blake placed hand on her shoulder.

"No time to talk right now, we need to get out of here!" the huntress in training stated and Benedict looked down at the ground where the train tracks sat.

"We need to jump!" he shouted and pointed at Wave. "How many people can you fly?"

The newly revealed faunus shook her head and shrugged her shoulders with a fearful face.

"Ruby, Yang, Blake, go with Wave, I'll run over to Oobleck," he stated and Ruby grabbed his coat.

"No!" she shouted, but he gripped her wrist and gave her a stern face.

"I've lived this long, kid. I'm not letting a train crash kill me."

He gave her to Blake who wrapped an arm around the petite girl's waist while Wave got a firm grip on Yang. Together, they dived off and attempted their landings.

* * *

High above Vale, in the clouds that lazily moved by in the blue color, a ship sat waiting. Within sat the famed bounty hunter, Deadlock with a metallic hand up to his metallic chin.

"Sir!" shouted a White Fang soldier as he ran up to the robotic menace, saluting once he got his feet together and straightened up. "The train is about to hit!"

"Good," he vented and got up, gripping the arms of his throne/cockpit seat. "Ready to the drones, we invade now!"

The sound of machines whirring to life, drones powering up with a loud buzz and whining resounded throughout the ship. The noise of metallic footsteps echoed as the army of drones marched towards the dropping bay. As the bay doors opened up revealing the city of Vale literally underneath them.

* * *

"Guys?"

Ruby called out and the rest of her team answered with groans. Yang rubbed her head and ran her fingers through her hair, pulling rubble from her yellow strands. Wave massaged her sore wings, a hurtful frown on her face as she rubbed them, sometimes cringing when she hit a bruising spot. Blake was rubbing her head, massaging her cat ears through her black bow while looking around.

Ruby remembered what had happened, when the whole train had gone off and sent scrap metal that shot them out regardless if they hit the ground. Looking around, she noticed the people staring in shock at the four girls. Before she could utter any words, however, the ground began to tremble.

A King Taijitu shot out from behind them, sprouting from the ground like a suddenly grown tree. It hissed at the crowd of humans and faunus causing them to scream in terror before fleeing as more creatures of Grimm poured out from the hole. Her eyes widened in horror as the Grimm poured out, Beowolves, Ursa, Deathstalkers, and more. The King Manticore from before rose up from the ground, a mass of void black and bone white with blood red markings on its bone plating.

Nearby, she could hear explosions going off, loud booms resounding as a massive vessel hung in the sky above Vale, firing a haze of bullets at the city and barrages of explosives down on it, shredding tall buildings and obliterating the streets. Robotic drones dropped down from it, pulling out simple dust rifles to use against the police force that arrived on the scene.

"Team," Ruby spoke as she slowly rose up, "we have a city to save."

* * *

**Cliffhanger!**

**So this was made long**

**Just for you guys**

**And for added extras**

**I'm giving some bonus scenes**

**Pieces of other RWBY story's I'll be working on**

**Meaning 2**

**So here's the first one titled**

**I Have No Strings**

**This story will be a prequel to this story, Ruby Rose, The Girl Who Ran**

**After you read this story, I urge you to read the one whose scene is being shown here**

**So here you go**

* * *

"Rah!"

Eight individuals, four organic and four robotic watched curiously as the mechanical being thrashed about on the construction table. Metal hands clenching and unclenching as a scanner ran up and down its body. A blue light flowed over him as the N in the team of hunters did her work.

"There's no virus, no rogue programming, nothing!" she cried out while tears started streaming from her face.

"What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know, Naomi," the O of the team stated, crossing his arms as they watched him settle.

"Brother, can you hear me?" Odis spoke, leaning over the android with a soul. "Broth- Ack!"

"Do not call me, brother!" he spat as his hand increased its grip on the other's throat, tightening its mechanical systems within the neck unit.

"Let go of him!" the S of the hunter team shouted and swung her swords, nearly cleaving off his hand.

He let go to dodge the attack and they moved back.

"You're all puppets," he sneered, calming down into a hauntingly stoic tone. "Tangled in..."

He searched for the right word and the silence became a morbid emptiness.

"Strings..." he vented, the robotic equivalent to breathing. "Strings..."

"Arch-" the N, Naomi called, but she flinched when his voice roared.

"That is not my name!"

She stepped back, putting a hand over her mouth as she backed up into the O of her team.

"Your all puppets, tangled in strings..."

He looked away, light blue optics staring at the ceiling as he pondered on his statements to come.

"I had strings..."

His mouth was mechanical, his words adding to the terror striking appearance he was giving to them. Even if he was originally built to be a family friendly android unit, he had somehow evolved into a mechanical menace.

"But now I'm free..."

"Archangel," the B of the team called and he turned his head towards the medical officer.

"There are no strings..." he began and glared at all of them, holding the hateful look on the small, naive girl that stayed in the arms of the tall, silver haired huntsman. "On me..."

"Who are you!" Odis shouted and he snapped his heads towards the good doctor.

"Don't you know, doc?" he mocked and did his best to move upwards as if he could sit up. "I'm Deadlock."

* * *

**Boom!**

**Origin story!**

**So that's the first story**

**Not going to say the name because it might spoil this story**

**So anyways, here's the second story**

**A name I can give**

**Grimmzilla**

* * *

"Do you know what this time is? 8:15 in the morning, the 6th day of the Fall Season in the final days of the Faunus Rights Revolution."

Team RWBY tilted their heads as did Team JNPR, all of them confused until Pyrrha's eyes widened.

"Fiora," she breathed, her voice almost a gasp, but still retaining shock as the doctor stared at her.

"Yes, Ms. Nikos, my hometown," he explained and moved his hand, gesturing for them to look at a screen that had appeared on the wall, a holo-screen that showed an old time video of some bomb tests. "Razed in the final days of the Faunus Rights Revolution by the most powerful and dangerous weapon ever created by both Faunus and Men."

"The ED-Bomb," Weiss gasped and Ruby tilted her head.

"What?"

"Elemental Bomb," Jaune explained and she tilted her head.

"What?"

"I did a project on it back in regular school," the blonde Arc explained, "It's a special bomb the humans and faunus on the faunus side created. It basically _made_ raw when it detonated."

"Yes," Doctor Oshiro stated and they turned their heads back to him, "the weapon was designed to detonate in about the same way dust was made. It created a power close to the base building blocks of dust, a radioactive material we know as Elemental Dust as it is volatile, chaotic, and every element is contained in every atom of it."

Their eyes widened at the knowledge and he looked down before pointing his pen at an assistant who fast forwarded the video playing.

"On the 71st day of the Winter Season, nine years after the Faunus Rights Revolution, we tested another ED-Bomb at the Grimm Isles near the shores of Vale, but they were not tests."

"Not tests?" Yang questioned and the video paused right where a massive Grimm shot out of the water.

All eight pairs of eyes went as wide as Pyrrha's shield as they saw giant bone white plates made of... well bone that had three rows of massive dorsal fins that were also bone with blood red markings going across them. In between the chinks of the bone plates there were void black scales and those scales traveled up across a neck and onto a head of a reptilian looking creature, but the splashing water obscured any sight of the creature save for its bone plated back and dorsal fins.

"Those tests were actually attempts to kill him," Doctor Oshiro stated and pointed at the screen. "We call him..."

He trailed off, either for dramatic pause or to wait for everyone to realize he was revealing the Creature of Grimm's name.

"Grimmzilla."

* * *

**Boom!**

**New story!**

**So this one's basically like a crossover with Godzilla, but also not**

**It's just borrowing elements from the new Godzilla 2014  
(Amazing movie by the way, ya'll should watch it sometime or watch it again)**

**Now**

**There you go!  
**

**New chapter along with two sneak peeks!**

**Now, I urge you all to do these simple three tasks**

**Review, it helps encourage and empower me**

**Favorite, it helps do the same**

**Follow, so you'll get all the new chapters when I make new ones!**

**So, without further ado  
**

**I bid you all, good day**

**Sincerely,  
Lord Revan Flame**

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* * *

**Hidden sneak peek, go!**

* * *

"Th-then I challenge you!" I shouted and the cheering stopped as they all stared at me with that 'are you serious?' look.

"You challenge I? I crush you! I kill you! I destroy you!" he bellowed with hate and swung the morning star.

I screamed and jumped out of the way, falling on my butt. He swung back and struck the ground where I was, but I managed to roll out of the way. It bounced off the ground so he swung a clawed hand at me, but I jumped forward and landed on my feet. He slammed the morning star down on me, but I jumped back on my feet and immediately saw an opening.

I found myself running up his arm, before jumping into the air, shield in front of me as I headed for his armored face. He stumbled a bit, but roared in hatred, rage, and anger... did I mention hatred and rage... and anger?

"Die!" he bellowed and swung his morning star at me again.

I jumped up and managed to get right above where the weapon's shaft would have struck me. I landed back down and ran forward, swinging Crocea Mors. The old sword simply ricocheted off the Grimm bones that he wore as armor all over him added with his dark steel armor underneath those. He tried to stomp me into the ground, but I rolled out of the way, finding myself in front of one of the old pillars that dotted the courtyard.

Getting an idea, I threw my sword at him. It bounced off his Grimm mask, but it was enough to make him real mad. He swung at me like the usual and I jumped out of the way, the spiked head smashing through the stone easily. He turned and raised his morning star, ready to pound me into the ground as I grabbed Crocea Mors.

"Behind you!" I shouted with victory and he raised an eyebrow underneath the bone white armor, turning to find the pillar collapsing on top of him.

Lucky for me, the pillar was still taller than him even though he was a giant. Stone crumbled on him and he roared in rage as he got trapped, a cloud of dust covering him. The crowd of Grimm bone clad warriors that I had also freed murmured amongst them, wondering if their leader had been beaten.

Let's just say, what happened next just about scared me as much as when I broke up with Pyrrha.

"Let me lead you!" I shouted as he threw the rubble off of him, rising up quickly. "We can't do this unless we work together!"

"Never!"

Then, then he did the most unexpected thing, he bent back down. His right fist slammed into the ground after he transformed his morning star into an extra layer of armor on his back, then after that he slammed his left fist into the ground. His dark grey skin shifted underneath the Grimm bones that moved about, the skulls on his head disappearing into his skin as it turned void black. He was transforming, shape shifting into a... into a...

Holy Dust, he was turning into a Grimm.

Two large, thick legs with large feet complete with three axe head like claws and a back one with it that made four. A lumbering body with a long, strong tail and two muscular, strong arms. A big, reptilian head was set on the neck, two ruby eyes glowing with rage and rows of wickedly sharp teeth while smoke and heat waves came from his mouth which glowed like a furnace. Bone plates sat all across his body, dorsal fine like blades coming out of his back while more just covered him making a thick layer of armor all over him.

He turned around, twirling until he faced me again, but then he kept turning until I saw the side of his face. He opened his jaw and an enormous plume of fire shot out of his mouth along with the sound of a loud, terror striking roar.

All I could say was, "Whoa."

* * *

**He he he**

**Enter...**

**The Grimm Knights**


End file.
